The unintentional injury death rate for Michigan has been consistently lower than the U.S. rate. Michigan's 1997 age-adjusted death rate of 26.8 was lower than the U.S. rate of 30.4. Unintentional injuries were the fifth leading cause of all deaths in the U.S. and the third leading cause of YPLL in 1997. Unintentional injuries were the leading cause of death to Michigan residents who are at least one year old but under age 35. Unintentional injuries such as burns, crashes, drownings, and poisonings account for more than 40 percent of all deaths in the U.S. for youths aged 15 to 24 and for a quarter of all deaths for those aged 25 to 44.
Men are more than twice as likely as women to die of unintentional injuries.
In 1998, the Michigan age-adjusted unintentional injury death rate was 37.7 for men and 16.4 for women. The rate for African-American men was the highest at 51.2. Severe injuries can result in long-term physical and mental impairments. For every unintentional injury resulting in death there are almost 10 that result in disabilities. The department is actively working to decrease the incidence and burden of unintentional injuries.