Vehicle Accidents

Motor-Vehicle Accidents

The single greatest cause of accidents in the United States is the automobile. In 1913 the American industrialist Henry Ford introduced assembly-line techniques in the manufacture of motor vehicles. The subsequent increase in the number of automobiles in use was huge and led to a great rise in the motor-vehicle accident rate. In 1991 in the U.S., automobile accidents were responsible for about 49.4 percent of all accidental deaths, as compared with accidents in the home (about 23.3 percent); accidents in public places, including railroads and airplanes (about 20.5 percent); and work-related accidents (about 11.3 percent). The second greatest cause of accidental deaths is falls, which account for some 13.9 percent of all fatalities. Accidental deaths reached a high of 110,000 in 1936, with a death rate of 85.9 per 100,000. In 1991 the total was estimated at 88,000, with a death rate of 34.9 per 100,000; this was the lowest accidental death toll since 1924 (85,600). (1)

Resources

Notes and References

1. Encarta Online Encyclopedia

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