National study: Opioid overdose deaths now more likely than traffic deaths

A new national study has found that Americans are now more likely to die of an accidental opioid overdose than in a motor vehicle crash (Source: “Opioid overdose now more likely cause of death than traffic crashes,” (Lake County) News-Herald, Jan. 19, 2019).

According to a new report from the National Safety Council, Americans now have a 1 in 96 chance of dying of an opioid overdose compared to a 1 in 103 chance of dying in a motor vehicle crash.

Opioid overdoses are now the fifth leading cause of death, according to the U.S. Ahead of it are heart disease (1 in 6 chance), cancer (1 in 7), chronic lower respiratory disease (1 in 27) and suicide (1 in 88).

Preventable injuries claimed an “unprecedented” 169,936 lives in 2017, according to the NSC. A person’s lifetime odds of dying from any preventable, accidental cause are 1 in 25 –- a change from one in 30 in 2004, NSC stated.

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