A recent study from Allstate’s Esurance online insurance division claims that you are more likely to date a millionaire than be in a car crash than you are to be in a car crash while on a 1,000 mile road trip. This statistic surprised us. We know many people who have been injured in Wisconsin car crashes, but very few who have dated millionaires.
According to the National Highway Transportation Service, there were 515 fatal accidents in Wisconsin in 2011. We wondered how this compares to the risk of death from other causes. We looked at data from the Centers for Disease Control.
- Heart disease (1 in 5): Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States. More than 650,000 deaths a year are caused by heart disease.
- Cancer (1 in 7): More than 550,000 Americans die each year from all types of cancer.
- Stroke (1 in 24): Stroke is the third leading cause of death killing more than 150,000 each year.
- Hospital infections (1 in 63): About 99,000 people a year die from preventable hospital infections.
- Flu (1 in 63): Complications from the flu kill almost 60,000 a year.
- Car accidents (1 in 84): An average of 44,700 Americans die in car accidents each year. This makes car accidents the second leading cause of accidental death.
- Suicide (1 in 119): More than 31,000 a year take their own lives.
- Accidental poisoning (1 in 193): More than 19,000 people a year, mostly children, die from accidental poisonings.
- MRSA (1 in 197): More than 19,000 die each year from MRSA, an antibiotic-resistant infection that is common in nursing homes and hospitals.
- Falls (1 in 2018): Falls are the third leading cause of accidental death killing more than 17,000 a year.
- Drowning (1 in 1,134): About 17,000 Americans drown each year.
- Bike accident (1 in 4,919): Almost 5,000 bicyclists die each year; most fatal accidents involve a motor vehicle.
- Air or space accident (1 in 5,051): Afraid to fly? Your odds of dying in an airplane crash are very low. A worldwide total of 700 people a year die in accidents while flying.
- Excessive cold (1 in 6,045): Excessive cold and hypothermia kill approximately 600 people per year.
- Excessive sun or heat (1 in 13,729): Heat and sun account for about 270 American deaths per year.
- Shark attack (1 in 60,453): Worldwide, only 60 people die in shark attacks each year.
- Lightning (1 in 79,746): About 45 Americans per year die from lightning strikes.
- Train crash (1 in 156,169): You’re not very likely to die in train crash. Train accidents kill only about 25 Americans per year.
- Fireworks (1 in 340,733): Fireworks are dangerous, but they are responsible for fewer than 11 deaths per year.
Our advice for a long healthy life: take care of your heart. Eat sensibly and get regular exercise, and wear your seat belt, pay attention while driving, and never drive while intoxicated.
If the odds fall against you and you are injured in a Wisconsin car crash, the Wisconsin car accident attorneys at Hupy and Abraham are here to help. Learn how to protect your case in your free copy of The Ultimate Guide for Automobile Accident Victims. To schedule a free consultation with one of our Wisconsin injury lawyers, please call 800-800-5678.
