Opioid ODs kill more people than crashes

Americans are now more likely to die from an accidental opioid overdose than a car crash, according to a study released Monday.

The odds of dying from an overdose from opioids are 1 in 96, while the odds of dying in a motor vehicle crash are 1 in 103, according to the National Safety Council's “Injury Facts” report.

Opioids were the cause of 43,036 deaths in 2017, while 40,231 people died from car accidents in the same year, according to the National Center for Health Statistics' mortality data.

An American dies from an opioid overdose every 24 minutes, according to the center.

Since 1999, there has been a 633% increase in the number of opioid overdose deaths. In 1999, there were 5,868 deaths from opioid overdose. Since 2016, the number has increased by 14% — up from 37,814.

“These medications are dangerous because the difference between the amount needed to feel their effects and the amount needed to kill a person is small and unpredictable,” the council stated in a document on opioid painkillers.

The council reports that opioid pain medications are not shown to be more effective than other oral medications that are available and advised caution and setting limits with a doctor when they are prescribed.

“Too often, they are prescribed when safer medications would suffice and they are prescribed in larger amounts than needed,” stated the NSC.

While opioid overdose deaths have increased dramatically over the last few decades, the number of motor vehicle deaths overall has gone down.

Since its peak in 1972 with 56,278 deaths, the number of motor vehicle deaths has decreased largely with the introduction of seat belts.

NSC's report revealed there were 169,936 preventable deaths in 2017 — also classified as “accidents.”

"We've made significant strides in overall longevity in the United States, but we are dying from things typically called accidents at rates we haven't seen in half a century," Ken Kolosh, manager of statistics at the NSC said in a statement. "We cannot be complacent about 466 lives lost every day."