Accidents are No. 6 cause of death in Y-S
The fourth most likely cause of death in the country? Accidents, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In Yuba-Sutter, accidents come in as the No. 6 cause of death, though the local rate is higher than the state average.
Amerjit Bhattal, director of Sutter County Public Health, said the death rate for accidents between 2012 and 2014 was 33.7 per 100,000; the state average for the same time period was 28.2. Bhattal said unintentional injuries were also higher than the state average in 2016. Unintentional deaths can range from car accidents to falls to poisonings to drug overdoses.
Nichole Quick, health officer for Yuba County Public Health, said the age-adjusted death rate per 100,000 population is 62.8.
Theresa Hyer, director of Emergency Services for Rideout Health, said her department sees a fair share of car accidents, moto-cross accidents and drug overdoses.
“We are a trauma center, so we see it all,” Hyer said.
Though she said the number of accidents she sees doesn’t seem to be higher compared to other areas, she does notice quite a few victims of head-on collisions.
“There are a lot of freeway-speed accidents that are on two-lane streets,” Hyer said. “We have a lot of our freeways and highways around us that are two lanes.”
Jodie Beck, public information officer for Yuba Sutter California Highway Patrol, said there have been seven fatal collisions this year so far resulting in eight deaths. Of the seven fatal car accidents, three of them have been DUIrelated (two of which are suspected combinations of drugs and alcohol).
Four of the people who were killed were not wearing seatbelts, one was a pedestrian and one was a bicyclist, which means only two of the fatalities were wearing seatbelts, Beck said.
“The causes of the other three fatal collisions were speed, unsafe turning movement, and a hit and run (which remains unsolved),” Beck said in an email.
She said most of the fatal car accidents could have been prevented.
“Wear your seatbelt, don’t drink/do drugs and drive and just as importantly, don’t get in the vehicle with a driver who has,” Beck said. “Slow down, and pay attention to your driving and those around you.”
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