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Odds of Death Due to Accidental Injury, United States, 1996
Excerpted from the National Safety Council web site.

Note: Lines in italics are subcategories of other listed causes.
Lines enclosed in brackets, "[...]", are combinations of two or more lines shown elsewhere.
The ICD-9 E-Codes used in the table below are available at: National Center for Health Statistics

The table below lists unintentional causes of death and shows them in rank order from most likely to least likely which makes it easy to compare various causes. The data are for 1996 which is the latest year available and since these figures are for accidental injuries, they do not include data for suicides. For the same data including suicides, please see Injury Facts including Suicide.

Each table has four columns. The first column gives the manner of injury such as motor-vehicle crash, fall, fire, etc. The second column gives the total number of deaths nationwide in 1996 due to the manner of injury. The third column gives the odds of dying in one year due to the manner of injury. The fourth column gives the lifetime odds of dying from the manner of injury. Statements about the odds or chances of dying from a given cause of death may be made as follows:

  • The odds of dying from (manner of injury) in 1996 were 1 in (value given in the one-year odds column).
  • The life-time odds of dying from (manner of injury) for a person born in 1996 were 1 in (value given in the lifetime odds column).

For example, referring to the first line of the table below:

  • The odds of dying from any injury in 1996 were 1 in 1,765.
  • The lifetime odds of dying from any injury for a person born in 1996 were 1 in 23.

Source: National Safety Council estimates based on data from National Center for Health Statistics and U.S. Census Bureau. Deaths are classified on the basis of the Ninth Revision of "The International Classification of Diseases" (ICD). Numbers following titles refer to External Cause of Injury and Poisoning classifications in the ICD. Data for 1996 are the latest official figures. One year odds are approximated by dividing the 1996 population (265,284,000) by the number of deaths. Lifetime odds are approximated by dividing the one-year odds by the life expectancy of a person born in 1996 (76.1 years).

Manner of Injury
Deaths
1996
One-year
Odds
Life-time
Odds

All Accidental Deaths, E800-E949

 94,948 2,794 37

Motor-vehicle, E810-E825

 43,649 6,078 80

Falls, E880-E888

 14,986 17,702 233

Poisoning by solids, liquids, gases, vapors, E850-E869

 9,510 27,895 367

Poisoning by solids and liquids, E850-E866

 8,872 29,901 393

Pedestrian, .7 of E810-E825

 6,028 44,009 578

Drowning, all, E830, E832, E910

 3,959 67,008 881

Fire and flames, E890-E899

 3,741 70,913 932

Drowning, submersion (excluding water transport drownings above), E910

 3,488 76,056 999

Choking, E911-E912

 3,206 82,746 1,087

Complications, misadventures of surgical, medical care, E870-E879

 2,919 90,882 1,194

Inhalation and ingestion of other object, E912

 2,080 127,540 1,676

Firearm missile, E922

 1,134 233,937 3,074

Late effects (deaths more than one year after accident), E929

 1,126 235,599 3,096

Inhalation and ingestion of food, E911

 1,126 235,599 3,096

Mechanical suffocation, E913

 1,114 238,136 3,129

Air and space transport, E840-E845

 1,061 250,032 3,286

Machinery, E919

 926 286,484 3,765

Struck by falling object, E916

 732 362,410 4,762

Excessive cold, E901

 685 387,276 5,089

Water transport, E830-E838

 675 393,013 5,164

Drowning during sport or recreation, E910.0-E910.2

 645 411,293 5,405

Poisoning by gases and vapors, E867-E869

 638 415,806 5,464

Railway, E800-E807

 565 469,529 6,170

Electric current, E925

 482 550,382 7,232

Drowning In bathtub, E910.4

 330 803,891 10,564

Adverse effects of drugs in therapeutic use, E930-E949

 253 1,048,553 13,779

Excessive heat, E900

 249 1,065,398 14,000

Hunger, thirst, exposure and neglect, E904

 224 1,184,304 15,562

Struck against or by objects or persons, E917

 171 1,551,368 20,386

Explosive material, E923

 130 2,040,646 26,815

Other injury caused by animals, E906

 107 2,479,290 32,579

Hot substance or object, corrosive material and steam, E924

 104 2,550,808 33,519

Cutting or piercing instruments or objects, E920

 97 2,734,887 35,938

Cataclysmic storms, and floods resulting from storms, E908

 93 2,852,516 37,484

Caught in or between objects, E918

 71 3,736,394 49,098

Poisoning by and toxic reaction to venomous animals, plants, E905

 68 3,901,235 51,265

Lightning, E907

 63 4,210,857 55,333

Explosive gases, E923.2

 49 5,413,959 71,143

Hornets, wasps and bees, E905.3

 45 5,895,200 77,466

Cataclysmic earth surface movements and eruptions, E909

 42 6,316,286 83,000

Dog bite, E906.0

 23 11,534,087 151,565

Other natural and environmental factors, E902, E903

 19 13,962,316 183,473

Venomous snakes, lizards, and spiders, E905.0, E905.1

 13 20,406,462 268,153

Fireworks, E923.0

 9 29,476,000 387,332

Conclusion:   Firearm accidents (Code E922 in table above) are extremely rare. Deaths due to motor-vehicle accidents, falls, accidental poisoning, getting ran over by a vehicle while walking, drowning, being burned alive, choking, surgical and medical care malpractice, and even inhalation and ingestion of such things as a bean or marble in the nose (I kid you not, see the NCHS listing of ICD-9 E-codes for E912 above) are all more common than firearms accidents!   Accidental shooting deaths are about as common as deaths caused by eating, suffocation, and air and space transport, and is only 18 times as likely as being struck by lightening.
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