subject: Alcohol Related Injuries And Deaths In The Us [print this page] Alcohol related injuries and deaths in the United States is a major problem that has seen little improvement over the last decade. In fact, alcohol related car accidents kill more people between the ages of 17 and 34 than any other cause. Alcohol is also closely associated with homicides, suicides, workplace injuries, domestic violence, assault, and complications and death resulting from alcohol related disease like cirrhosis of the liver. Understanding the potentially injurious or fatal risks that people take when they drink is essential to creating an educated public that is more cognizant of the need for self-control over alcohol.
The most common source of injuries and deaths related to alcohol is drunk-driving automobile accidents. While total drunk driving fatalities have decreased by nearly 50% since 1982, in 2008 there were still 13,846 fatal alcohol related crashes. This accounted for 37% of all traffic fatalities in the United States for the same year. During 2008 Texas, California and Florida reported more than double the amount of alcohol related fatalities than all other states. However, South Carolina and North Dakota ranked highest in the ratio of alcohol related fatalities to total number of vehicular fatalities, each with 50%.(Alcohol Alert 2008 Drunk Driving Statistics)
While most adults in the country are probably aware that alcohol related car accidents are a serious problem, few are aware that the physical risks taken just by drinking are severe enough that thousands of people die from conditions related to alcoholism every year. According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there are more than 23,000 deaths related to alcohol each year that are not traffic fatalities or homicides, and 14,406 of those are caused by alcoholic liver disease.(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Alcohol Use: US Data) Adding these totals to just the total number of drunk driving fatalities alone and we can see that nearly 47,000 deaths occur as a result of these alcohol related causes alone.
Injuries are also commonly related to alcohol consumption, including car accidents that may or may not result in fatalities. Thousands of serious injuries are reported every year related to domestic violence, assault and other alcohol related aggressions. According to a review on the relationship between alcohol and homicide by Murdoch, Phil and Ross:
". . . data from the United States suggests that about 30% of assaults involve alcohol (without other drugs) and 40 to 50% of violent crimes involve alcohol or a combination of alcohol and drugs."(Murdoch, Phil & Ross Alcohol and Homicide, Bars and Violence 1990)
Data from other alcohol related deaths and injuries are more difficult to obtain, such as deaths and injuries from workplace accidents and alcohol related suicides. Additionally, some studies conducted in this field include data from alcohol RELATED cases, which does not necessarily mean that alcohol was the CAUSE of the accident, injury or death. In either case, it's clear that there is a significant problem with alcohol in the United States.
If you need to get help for drinking, the sooner you take action, the safer you'll be. Don't become a statistic like those mentioned in this article - all it takes to save your life or that of someone you love is a simple phone call. Remember; you don't have to be a hard-core alcoholic to be injured or killed, so if you have a problem please do something about it now.
