Unintentional Injury Statistics

The following are the latest US statistics available from the National Center for Health Statistics, part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and other sources:

• Unintentional injuries continue to be the fifth leading cause of death overall, and the leading cause of death for those under 35 years of age.
• Sixty-five percent of injury deaths were classified as unintentional, 20 percent were suicides, and 13 percent were homicides.
• The top three causes of fatal unintentional injuries include motor vehicle crashes (41.8 percent), falls (14.8 percent), and poisoning (13.9 percent).
• Suffocation was the leading mechanism of unintentional injury death among infants.
• Motor vehicle traffic related injuries were the leading reason for unintentional injury deaths among those ages one to four years of age, and ages 65 to 74 years of age.
• Drowning was the second leading reason for unintentional injury deaths among children ages one to four years.
• Poisoning was the second leading cause of unintentional injury deaths among age groups 15 to 24 years and 45 to 54 years.
• Falls were the the leading mechanism of unintentional injury deaths among those ages 75 to 84 years and 85 years and older.  Falls were the second leading reason of unintentional injury deaths among persons ages 65 to 74 years. 

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