Death On The Go - Dying While Traveling
What type of vehicle is most deadly?
On the road, the most deadly vehicle by far is the pick up truck. More deaths occur from the pick up truck, driving the pickup truck or being hit by a pick up truck than any other vehicle on the road.
How likely am I to die while in a car?
Today the most likely way you'll die an accidental death in America is from an automobile. Over 43,000 people die each year in auto accidents, and over 15,000 receive dibilitating injuries. Every 14 minutes a person is dying in a car. The most dangerous ages is between the ages of under 24 and after 70. People that are over 70 die more often in intersections than any other place. And under 24, it's usually from speeding. But actually, more deaths occur, of these 43,000, to people that are driving under 40 mph with less than 5 miles from your home.
What are some of the common causes of death in the car?
Over 13,000 people a year die from speeding, going over the speed limit. Another way people die from cars is interacting with road debris. Over 3000 people a year die from when objects in the road bounce through the windshield or cause a distraction. People that operate laptop computers while driving or other electronic devices have attributed to over 2000 deaths from trying to type a letter while they drive. Fatalities from carjacking are over 5000. These usually occur in well-lighted areas, to men more than women that are within a mile from their home. Airbags have killed 6900 people since their inception. And since 1985, 2780 children have died from being left alone or abandoned in cars.
How likely am I to die while riding a bike?
Bicycles now are becoming more popular than ever. At the turn of the century, bicycle was only the mode of transportation and over 20,000 people died a year from riding bicycles. They went out of fashion when cars came in and it was usually taken over by children, up until the 1960s. Now adults and children are riding bicycles, to the fact that over 1100 fatalities occur when bicycles collide with cars every year. One of the interesting statistics is that it is not helmets that keep longevity up for bicycle riders, but a new statistic has shown that people that wear biking paraphernalia, such as tight pants, are in more fatalities than people that wear regular clothes while driving bikes. This might be attributed to their mindset and not the bicycle or the helmet they are wearing, but when they seem to put on this certain type of riding gear, they take more risks and are involved in more fatal accidents.
What cities are the riskiest for pedestrians?
The cities that have the highest rate of pedestrian fatalities last year are Orlando, Miami, and Tampa. Another area is Atlanta, and Houston, Texas. Now all of these areas, it's not that the drivers are more dangerous or the pedestrians less cautious, but in many of these areas, where these fatalities occur, the roads are so long and so wide, eight lanes, four lanes on each side, or eight lanes, that in order for someone to cross the road, it becomes longer than what the light is needed to change, and thats why pedestrian fatalities occur in those cities more than others.
How dangerous is coach class seating?
Airplanes have lately been giving you a small card, sometimes you'll find it in a pocket, that tell you to exercise while travelling in coach class. The reason they're doing this may be less altruistic than we think. Since 2004, there have been over 1,500 deaths from deep-vein thrombosis in coach class. That means there's a blood clot that develops in the leg from prolonged sitting, or sitting in one position too long. So airplanes have been trying to reduce their liability by encouraging exercises. So sitting in coach class, where room is tight, has definitely been more fatal than the wider first-class seating.
How dangerous are subways?
42 people a year are pushed or fall onto the path of oncoming subway trains. Another 12 people each year die from when they try to ride on top of the subway or in between cars. Some of these are doing that for excitement or thrill and usually they misjudge the calculations of the clearance of the upcoming subway tunnels that are ahead and that's where most of the fatalities occur from people who ride on top of subways.
How dangerous are railway trains?
You know the slogan "You can't beat the train"? It means more than just riding in it. Over 600 people a year see the crossing gates come down at a railroad station when they are driving their car or across an intersection where the roads cross. They try to beat the arm that is coming down so they don't have to wait for a passing train. Six hundred people die each year trying to beat the train when the arm is down. Another seven hundred people a year are dying by walking too close to train tracks as a short cut. Most recently there was one young woman who was busy text messaging on her phone, walking on the railroad tracks. The railroad tried to blow its whistle two or three times, but she was, either had her Ipod on or talking on her cell phone and couldn't even hear the warning. It takes a train over a mile, going 70 MPH, to stop. That is where most fatilities occur, walking too close to the tracks or trying to beat the gates.
How deadly are non-powered scooters?
Every year over 1100 deaths occur when people drive non-motorized scooters. Most of these occur from collisions with cars, but I would say over 60 percent of them are from falls that could have been prevented by wearing helmets.
What are some of the fatal risks on cruise ships?
Cruise ships are becoming like small towns, floating towns. They are self contained entities with their own medical doctors and medicine. However, a lot of the cruise ships don't hire doctors that have US training. They are really only equipped for treating minor medical situations. People that die on cruise ships usually have a precondition and 150 of them died from lack of proper medical care while on the cruise ship. Another 24 people have gone missing, they just don't know where they are, apparently jumped off the side of the cruise ship and couldn't be found. Most commonly though it's deaths that have occurred from various food poisoning to normal healthy people, not the 150 that have preexisting medical conditions.
How deadly is road rage?
Over the last 4 years, there have been 300,000 fatalities that have occurred from traffic accidents. Over 40,000 of these were from road rage. Road rage is a condition, where some psycholgists believe it is innate human nature for territorial rights. Where someone cuts in front of your space, which is an intangible anyway, they have to reclaim their space on the road. It has to do with unsafe driving, and when the adrenaline rises, when road rage occurs, improper decisions are made, killing over 4,000 people in that study time period.
How likely am I to die from debris on the road?
People have died on the road from all kinds of things falling off the backs of trucks, from barbeques to wheels, tires that shredded or explode, iron pipes. people have even died from pebbles that have opened windows or come through windows and caused fatalities. Over 110 people each year die from road debris; things that are in the road in the way of driving that you don't expect normally to see have caused fatalities.
How likely am I to perish as a stowaway?
Believe it or not, if you go in the airport, every airport has signs advising people to purchase tickets and not stow away. Still to this day, five people a year die trying to stow away themselves in planes. They always think that the wheel well is the safest place to hide. However, once that plane becomes airborne, there is no oxygen in that area and they die from lack of pressure, not from being squashed by the wheels, as most people think. The other type of stowaways comes in the category of people just trying to cross the border in a variety of different trucks, vans or cargo containers. 250 people die just trying to cross the Mexican border each year that are trapped inside of vans or some locked container, dying of heat exhaustion, malnutrition or even starvation.
