Americans' Pessimistic View of Accident Prevention Poses Hurdle to Reducing Injuries, S...( Poll Shows Nearly 1 in 3 ...),Health

Poll Shows Nearly 1 in 3 Believe Nothing Can Be Done 2 to 1 Rank Accidental Injury Over Crime as Greatest Risk to Well-Being

CHICAGO, Oct. 15 /PRNewswire/ -- Nearly one in every three Americans believes nothing can be done to prevent accidental injuries, posing a major obstacle to national efforts to reverse escalating injury trends in the United States, according to a national survey of American attitudes on safety issues released today by the National Safety Council at its annual safety and health meeting here.

This finding comes on the heels of an NSC injury report in June showing that accidental deaths and injuries are climbing and at current rates could hit an all-time high in the next few years if public action isn't taken to reverse the trend.

Despite this pessimistic view on prevention, 58 percent of Americans believe accidental injuries are a serious public health concern, and 46 percent ranked accidental injuries as the greatest risk to their health and well-being, as opposed to less than 25 percent who ranked violent crime as the greatest risk.

"We're encouraged that Americans recognize accidental injuries as a major concern in their everyday lives," said NSC President and CEO Alan C. McMillan. "However, this survey clearly shows that we have our work cut out for us in educating Americans about how to prevent injuries from ever occurring."

For example, NSC data shows that poisoning -- particularly from overdoses of prescription and illicit drugs -- is now the fastest-rising cause of accidental death, with major increases among working age adults.

Once a leading cause of death among children, today the death rate from poisoning for children under 6 years of age is just 0.4 per 100,000. Yet, survey results show that most people (81 percent) believe children are at greatest risk for poisoning, while less than 4 percent said adults. When asked to rank potential causes of poisoning, 53 percent said househol
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