Study: Opioids more likely to kill Americans than car crash
By Solange Ranger From Newsmax
A shocking report published Monday by the National Safety Council says Americans are more likely to die of an opioid overdose than in an automobile crash.
Americans now have a 1 in 96 chance of dying from an opioid overdose, compared to a 1 in 103 chance of dying in a vehicle crash, according to accidental death data from 2017.
“The nation’s opioid crisis is fueling the Council’s grim probabilities, and that crisis is worsening with an influx of illicit fentanyl,” the council said in a statement.
Americans still have a greater chance of dying of heart disease (1 in 6), cancer, (1 in 7), chronic lower respiratory disease (1 in 27), and suicide (1 in 88).
More than 130 people die every day from opioid overdoses, a number that has spiked dramatically since the 1990s when pharmaceutical companies reassured the medical community that patients would not grow addicted to opioid painkillers.
The NSC study also found half of the people who died in crashes the council analyzed were not wearing seatbelts.
“Historically, roadways have been designed to make it as efficient as possible for the vehicle,” NSC statistics manager Ken Kolosh told NPR. “We now have to do a far better job of building our infrastructure to accommodate all road users.”
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