Report: Opioid deaths surpass car wrecks

The opioid crisis in the United States has become so grim that Americans are now likelier to die of an overdose than in a vehicle crash.

That’s according to a new report by the National Safety Council that analyzed the causes of preventable deaths in the country in 2017. The probability of dying from an opioid overdose, according to the report, is 1 in 96. The chances of dying in a vehicle crash? One in 103.

Most Americans are still most likely to die of natural causes, chiefly heart disease (a 1 in 6 chance) or cancer (1 in 7). But the report shows, in stark numbers, that everyday events — such as falling down — might be effectively more dangerous than rare ones, such as getting hit by lightning. “Human beings, we just are not good at estimating our own risk,” said Ken Kolosh, manager of statistics at the National Safety Council, who oversaw the report. “We tend to fixate or focus on the rare, startling event, like a plane crash or a major flood or a natural disaster, but in reality, when you look at the numbers, the everyday risks that we face and have become so accustomed to form

The top 10 odds of dying

Heart disease: 1in6

Cancer: 1 in 7 Lower respiratory disease: 1 in 27 Suicide: 1 in 88 Opioid overdose: 1in96

Car crash: 1 in

103

Fall: 1 in 114

Gun assault: 1 in 285

Pedestrian incident: 1 in 556

Motorcycle crash: 1 in 858