One in three Americans visits an emergency department each year. Heart disease is the leading cause of death overall, but trauma is the leading cause of death in people between the ages of 1 and 40.
Stroke is the third leading cause of death, second only to heart disease and cancer.
An estimated 374 lives were saved by airbags in 1994. In 1993, more than one-third of all injuries resulting in emergency department visits occurred at home. Nearly 60 percent of accidents to pedestrians under age five happen in their own driveway when a vehicle backs over them. Smokers in their 30s and 40s have five times as many heart attacks as non-smokers. Only 15 states have statewide bicycle helmet laws, and they only apply to young riders.