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National Safety Council's What Are the Odds of Dying? (Originally published here.) The tables below were prepared in response to frequent inquiries, especially from the media, asking, "What are the odds of being killed by lightning?" or "What are the chances of dying in a plane crash?" The first table lists all injury-related causes of death, including suicide and homicide, and shows them grouped by cause of death. The second table lists only unintentional causes and shows them in rank order from most likely to least likely which makes it easy to compare various causes. The data are for 1996 which is the latest year available. Each table has four columns. The first column gives the manner of injury such as motor-vehicle crash, fall, fire, etc. The second column gives the total number of deaths nationwide in 1996 due to the manner of injury. The third column gives the odd of dying in one year due to the manner of injury. The fourth column gives the lifetime odds of dying from the manner of injury. Statements about the odds or chances of dying from a given cause of death may be made as follows: The odds of dying from (manner of injury) in 1996 were 1 in (value given in the one-year odds column). The life-time odds of dying from (manner of injury) for a person born in 1996 were 1 in (value given in the lifetime odds column). For example, referring to the first line of the table below: The odds of dying from an injury in 1996 were 1 in 1,765. The lifetime odds of dying from an injury for a person born in 1996 were 1 in 23. Source: National Safety Council estimates based on data from National Center for Health Statistics and U.S. Census Bureau. Deaths are classified on the basis of the Ninth Revision of "The International Classification of Diseases" (ICD). Numbers following titles refer to External Cause of Injury and Poisoning classifications in the ICD. Data for 1996 are the latest official figures. One year odds are approximated by dividing the 1996 population (265,284,000) by the number of deaths. Lifetime odds are approximated by dividing the one-year odds by the life expectancy of a person born in 1996 (76.1 years).   Odds of Death Due to Injury, United States, 1996 Note: Lines in italics are subcategories of other listed causes. Lines enclosed in brackets, "[...]", are combinations of two or more lines shown elsewhere. Manner of Injury Deaths, 1996 One-year Odds Life-time Odds ALL INJURY DEATHS, E800-E999 150,298 1,765 23 All Accidental Deaths, E800-E949 94,948 2,794 37 Railway, E800-E807 565 469,529 6,170 Motor-vehicle, E810-E825 43,649 6,078 80 Pedestrian, .7 of E810-E825 6,028 44,009 578 Water transport, E830-E838 675 393,013 5,164 Drowning (excluded from drowning below), E830, E832 471 563,236 7,401 Other water transport, E831, E833-E838 204 1,300,412 17,088 Air and space transport, E840-E845 1,061 250,032 3,286 Poisoning by solids and liquids, E850-E866 8,872 29,901 393 Poisoning by gases and vapors, E867-E869 638 415,806 5,464 [Poisoning by solids, liquids, gases, vapors, E850-E869 ] 9,510 27,895 367 Complications, misadventures of surgical, medical care, E870-E879 2,919 90,882 1,194 Falls, E880-E888 14,986 17,702 233 Fire and flames, E890-E899 3,741 70,913 932 Excessive heat, E900 249 1,065,398 14,000 Excessive cold, E901 685 387,276 5,089 Hunger, thirst, exposure and neglect, E904 224 1,184,304 15,562 Poisoning by and toxic reaction to venomous animals, plants, E905 68 3,901,235 51,265 Venomous snakes, lizards, and spiders, E905.0, E905.1 13 20,406,462 268,153 Hornets, wasps and bees, E905.3 45 5,895,200 77,466 Other and unspecified animals, plants, E905.2, E905.4-E905.9 10 26,528,400 348,599 Other injury caused by animals, E906 107 2,479,290 32,579 Dog bite, E906.0 23 11,534,087 151,565 Other and unspecified injury by animal, E906.1-E906.9 84 3,158,143 41,500 Lightning, E907 63 4,210,857 55,333 Cataclysmic storms, and floods resulting from storms, E908 93 2,852,516 37,484 Cataclysmic earth surface movements and eruptions, E909 42 6,316,286 83,000 Other natural and environmental factors, E902, E903 19 13,962,316 183,473 Drowning, submersion (excluding water transport drownings above), E910 3,488 76,056 999 During sport or recreation, E910.0-E910.2 645 411,293 5,405 In bathtub, E910.4 330 803,891 10,564 Other, unspecified drowning, submersion, E910.3, E910.8, E910.9 2,513 105,565 1,387 [Drowning, all, E830, E832, E910 ] 3,959 67,008 881 Inhalation and ingestion of food, E911 1,126 235,599 3,096 Inhalation and ingestion of other object, E912 2,080 127,540 1,676 [Choking, E911-E912 ] 3,206 82,746 1,087 Mechanical suffocation, E913 1,114 238,136 3,129 Struck by falling object, E916 732 362,410 4,762 Struck against or by objects or persons, E917 171 1,551,368 20,386 Caught in or between objects, E918 71 3,736,394 49,098 Machinery, E919 926 286,484 3,765 Cutting or piercing instruments or objects, E920 97 2,734,887 35,938 Firearm missile, E922 1,134 233,937 3,074 Explosive material, E923 130 2,040,646 26,815 Fireworks, E923.0 9 29,476,000 387,332 Explosive gases, E923.2 49 5,413,959 71,143 Other and unspecified explosive material, E923.1, E923.8, E923.9 72 3,684,500 48,417 Hot substance or object, corrosive material and steam, E924 104 2,550,808 33,519 Electric current, E925 482 550,382 7,232 Other and unspecified accidents, E914, E915, E921, E926, E927, E928 2,984 88,902 1,168 Late effects (deaths more than one year after accident), E929 1,126 235,599 3,096 Adverse effects of drugs in therapeutic use, E930-E949 253 1,048,553 13,779 All Suicide Deaths, E950-E959 30,903 8,584 113 Suicide by firearm, E955.0-.4 18,166 14,603 192 All Homicide Deaths, E960-E969 20,634 12,857 169 Homicide by firearm, E965.0-.4 14,037 18,899 248 Legal Intervention, E970-E978 337 787,193 10,344 Undetermined Whether Accidentally or Purposely Inflicted, E980-E989 3,463 76,605 1,007 Deaths From Operations of War, E990-E999 13 20,406,462 268,153   Odds of Death Due to Unintentional Injury, Selected Causes, United States, 1996 (in rank order) Note: Lines in italics are subcategories of other listed causes. Manner of Injury Deaths, 1996 One-year Odds Life-time Odds All Accidental Deaths, E800-E949 94,948 2,794 37 Motor-vehicle, E810-E825 43,649 6,078 80 Falls, E880-E888 14,986 17,702 233 Poisoning by solids, liquids, gases, vapors, E850-E869 9,510 27,895 367 Poisoning by solids and liquids, E850-E866 8,872 29,901 393 Pedestrian, .7 of E810-E825 6,028 44,009 578 Drowning, all, E830, E832, E910 3,959 67,008 881 Fire and flames, E890-E899 3,741 70,913 932 Drowning, submersion (excluding water transport drownings above), E910 3,488 76,056 999 Choking, E911-E912 3,206 82,746 1,087 Complications, misadventures of surgical, medical care, E870-E879 2,919 90,882 1,194 Inhalation and ingestion of other object, E912 2,080 127,540 1,676 Firearm missile, E922 1,134 233,937 3,074 Late effects (deaths more than one year after accident), E929 1,126 235,599 3,096 Inhalation and ingestion of food, E911 1,126 235,599 3,096 Mechanical suffocation, E913 1,114 238,136 3,129 Air and space transport, E840-E845 1,061 250,032 3,286 Machinery, E919 926 286,484 3,765 Struck by falling object, E916 732 362,410 4,762 Excessive cold, E901 685 387,276 5,089 Water transport, E830-E838 675 393,013 5,164 Drowning during sport or recreation, E910.0-E910.2 645 411,293 5,405 Poisoning by gases and vapors, E867-E869 638 415,806 5,464 Railway, E800-E807 565 469,529 6,170 Electric current, E925 482 550,382 7,232 Drowning In bathtub, E910.4 330 803,891 10,564 Adverse effects of drugs in therapeutic use, E930-E949 253 1,048,553 13,779 Excessive heat, E900 249 1,065,398 14,000 Hunger, thirst, exposure and neglect, E904 224 1,184,304 15,562 Struck against or by objects or persons, E917 171 1,551,368 20,386 Explosive material, E923 130 2,040,646 26,815 Other injury caused by animals, E906 107 2,479,290 32,579 Hot substance or object, corrosive material and steam, E924 104 2,550,808 33,519 Cutting or piercing instruments or objects, E920 97 2,734,887 35,938 Cataclysmic storms, and floods resulting from storms, E908 93 2,852,516 37,484 Caught in or between objects, E918 71 3,736,394 49,098 Poisoning by and toxic reaction to venomous animals, plants, E905 68 3,901,235 51,265 Lightning, E907 63 4,210,857 55,333 Explosive gases, E923.2 49 5,413,959 71,143 Hornets, wasps and bees, E905.3 45 5,895,200 77,466 Cataclysmic earth surface movements and eruptions, E909 42 6,316,286 83,000 Dog bite, E906.0 23 11,534,087 151,565 Other natural and environmental factors, E902, E903 19 13,962,316 183,473 Venomous snakes, lizards, and spiders, E905.0, E905.1 13 20,406,462 268,153 Fireworks, E923.0 9 29,476,000 387,332 Source: National Safety Council's Website Main Menu | Workplace | NSC Home | Directory | Comments Send an e-mail to rssdept@nsc.org with questions or for additional information.