AUTOMOBILE INJURY--SELECTED RISK FACTORS AND PREVENTION IN THE HEALTH CARE SETTING

Injuries of all types rank fourth among leading causes of death in the United States, after heart disease, cancer, and stroke. They are the leading cause of death from the ages 1 to 44 and the leading cause of preretirement years of life lost.1-4 Motor vehicle crashes are the most important cause of injury, producing 40,000 to 50,000 deaths and 4 to 5 million injuries annually in recent years.3-4 An incidence-based cost comparison of cancer, coronary heart disease, stroke and motor vehicle injuries in 1975 ranked motor vehicle injuries as second most costly, after cancer.1 The frequency of motor vehicle injuries varies substantially by age and sex. Injury and fatality rates per passenger-mile of travel are bimodally related to age, being highest in the ages 16 to 24 and over 70. From about age 10, fatality rates are higher for males than for females at all ages, and at ages 16 to 24, death rates for males are more than double those for females.3

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