Odds of Dying from External Causes

[Ivan Seeking]

...The odds given below are statistical averages over the whole U.S. population and do not necessarily reflect the chances of death for a particular person from a particular external cause. Any individual's odds of dying from various external causes are affected by the activities in which they participate, where they live and drive, what kind of work they do, and other factors...

[selected examples show the lifetime odds of each as the cause of death]

Animal rider or occupant of animal-drawn vehicle: 1:31,836
Falls of all kinds: 1:246
Fall...from slipping, tripping, and stumbling: 1:6,548
Contact with hot tap-water: 1:64,788
Contact with hornets, wasps and bees: 1:85,882
Narcotics and psychodysleptics [hallucinogens]: 1:567
Other and unspecified drugs, medicaments, and biologicals: 1:666
Alcohol: 1:12,188
Intentional self-harm [of all kinds]: 1:121
Falling, jumping, or pushed from a high place: 1:47,960
Legal intervention involving firearm discharge: 1:11,433
Legal execution: 1:58,618

Many more:
http://www.nsc.org/lrs/statinfo/odds.htm

So the good news is that you are more likely to be legally shot and killed than you are to fall, jump, or to be pushed from a high place, or to die from alcohol related causes.

 

[Moonbear]

Ooh, what a cheerful topic. You really have been spending a lot of time thinking about your relatives!

 

[tribdog]

I wonder, if you add all those up does it come out to 1:1 odds of dying?

 

[Moonbear]

Probably not. There are those who are uniquely talented and can have more than one of those happen at the same time so that you can't rule any out for cause of death. You know, like the drunken guy who gets stung by a swarm of hornets and falls off the ladder into a kettle of boiling water.

 

[tribdog]

that's how I lost my dad.

 

[Moonbear]

that's how I lost my dad.

*slowly shaking head* Tragic when that happens. I was betting it was just the sort of way you'd be likely to meet your demise; must run in the family. Sad, truly.

 

[Math Is Hard]

Choking to death on piece of frozen brocolli: 1:365,711

 

[tribdog]

that's how I lost mom. You heartless, heartless people

 

[Moonbear]

Choking to death on piece of frozen brocolli: 1:365,711

Choking to death on a piece of frozen brocolli on Halloween after visiting Ivan's house: 1: 2974

 

[tribdog]

and how many people have joined PF? do we have a future bee sting fatality hanging out?

 

[Moonbear]

and how many people have joined PF? do we have a future bee sting fatality hanging out?

Probably me. You're not supposed to be allergic to bee stings on the first sting, but I got stung near my ankle about two years ago (how I managed to never get stung before that, I have no idea) and my whole foot swelled up rather painfully. I don't think that bodes well for me since my dad was one of those so allergic we had to rush him straight to the nearest emergency room as soon as he got stung.

 

[tribdog]

I am so scared of Killer Bees.
A couple of years ago I rolled over in bed onto a bee and it felt like someone was putting out a cigar on my back. again

 

[Moonbear]

Didn't your mom warn you about sleeping around with those bees? They're nothing but trouble.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Ooh, what a cheerful topic. You really have been spending a lot of time thinking about your relatives!

No, that would suggest a thread dedicated entirely to jumping off of a cliff.

 

[Hurkyl]

Choking to death on a piece of frozen brocolli

Don't you realize that it's one of natures most hazardous foods? It even tries to warn you with its repulsive green color!

 

[mattmns]

Intentional Self Harm with a Firearm, 1:219

I do not understand how the odds can be 1:219. Do that many people shoot themselves intentionally and live?

 

[Ivan Seeking]

No, these numbers are correlated to causes of death.

It means that each American [raw statistics here] has a 1:219 chance of committing suicide by using a gun.

 

[mattmns]

Ok, that makes more sense lol

Hmm looking at your first post again, I guess I just need to learn how to read and I will be fine.

The odds given below are statistical averages over the whole U.S. population and do not necessarily reflect the chances of death for a particular person from a particular external cause.

 

[relskid]

Other and unspecified drugs, medicaments, and biologicals: 1:666

and they called me crazy when i said drugs were of the devil.

some of those were much lower than what i expected. much lower.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

There was one guy at Frito Lay, in Texas, that died by drowning in a tower filled with cooking oil. I knew of another guy that was almost crisped to death! He slipped and his right leg went into a large vat of cooking oil; while deep frying tater chips. His leg was said to be crispy and golden brown. Still, he nearly fell in completely. What a way to go.

I do a lot of work with heavy industry. Some of the stories I hear... Luckily the odds of such events depend a lot on one's job. IMO, high voltage electricians are nuts...in fact, all industrial electricians are nuts!

My dad knew of a guy [during the Korean War] who was sucked out of a plane while he was sleeping. I remember trying to imagine what it would be like to wake up while falling in the dark at 30,000 ft.


And no Moonbear, I ran across this while trying to find the odds of death by meteor strike - another thread. This is not a family thing.

 

[tribdog]

Since so many people can be killed by a big meteor strike aren't the odds pretty high?

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Yes, IIRC, it is estimated as about the same as the lifetime chance of dying in plane crash.

 

[jimmy p]

I could give better odds.

 

[BoulderHead]

[selected examples show the lifetime odds of each as the cause of death]

Animal rider or occupant of animal-drawn vehicle: 1:31,836
Falls of all kinds: 1:246
Fall...from slipping, tripping, and stumbling: 1:6,548
Contact with hot tap-water: 1:64,788
Contact with hornets, wasps and bees: 1:85,882
Narcotics and psychodysleptics [hallucinogens]: 1:567
Other and unspecified drugs, medicaments, and biologicals: 1:666
Alcohol: 1:12,188
Intentional self-harm [of all kinds]: 1:121
Falling, jumping, or pushed from a high place: 1:47,960
Legal intervention involving firearm discharge: 1:11,433
Legal execution: 1:58,618

Many more:
http://www.nsc.org/lrs/statinfo/odds.htm

So the good news is that you are more likely to be legally shot and killed than you are to fall, jump, or to be pushed from a high place, or to die from alcohol related causes.

If these things are hardly killing anyone in particular then what in tarnation is getting everybody?

 

[chroot]

I'm amazed that almost 1% of the population dies by suicide. Wow.

- Warren

 

[Janus]

I wonder, if you add all those up does it come out to 1:1 odds of dying?

No. Because they only list deaths due to external causes (accident/injury) and not other causes of death.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

According to Understanding on The Science Channel [SCI], base jumping may have a fatality rate as high as 1 death per 2000 jumps. While defending the logic of this sport, a base jumper objects to this statistic on the basis that more people die from bee stings each year than base jumping.

Okay... Why am I thinking of Darwin?

 

[yxgao]

In spirit of this cheerful post, here are more
selected ways of dying from
http://www.travelfinders.com/html/insurance.html


Odds of dying while in the bath tub- 1 in a million


Odds of being killed by space debris- 1 in 5 billion


Odds of being killed by freezing- 1 in 3 million


Odds of being killed by falling out of bed- 1 in 2 million

 

[tribdog]

I like the more obscure ones

Odds of being killed by paper cut- 1:19000000
by a rabid marsupial- 1:22000000
spontaneous combustion- 1:9992934432
by ow...AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Edit: we are sorry to say that we must revise this statistic
odds of dying by spontaneous combustion- 2:9992934432
RIP tribdog

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Odds of dying while chasing car tire on moving vehicle:
Lifetime average - 1:1,000,000,000
Tribdog - 1:2

 

[Moonbear]

I could give better odds.

You really should have been put up for a "Gambling Guru" award!

 

[Moonbear]

Odds of dying while chasing car tire on moving vehicle:
Lifetime average - 1:1,000,000,000
Tribdog - 1:2

So, if people jumping out of planes cite beestings as more dangerous, what statistics do beekeepers cite to justify what they do? "Well, at least we're not like that tribdog character who's likely to die from all of the above simultaneously."

 

[Ivan Seeking]

btw, that was base jumping...you know, that really sane sport where you jump off of tall buildings, bridges, and cliffs.

 

[Burnsys]

if you are afraid of dying by a terrorist bomb. then you have to carry a bomb with you every time ready to detonate at detection of another explosion... the probabilities of dying from 2 diferent bombs at the same time is really small.

 

[tribdog]

you know what they say about one in a million occurances, they happen 9 times out of 10.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

When I was a kid, for years I had recurring nightmares about plane crashes... I guess because a number of large planes and the Disney Helicopter did crash near my home - in or near Los Angeles - while I was growing up. Even though I really like to fly this used to bother me a bit when I did fly. One day while waiting to board a plane I got this really weird feeling; it was almost like everyone around looked familiar to me. I guess it was some form of deja vu, low blood sugar, or too little sleep, but the feeling was so strong and strange that I nearly didn't board. You never know, you know. I did board and all was fine.

Later I dreamt that not only did the plane crash, and not only did I choose not to board, but the plane hit me and my car as I was leaving the airport! Now how likely would that be? Sometimes my dreams crack me up!

 

[Moonbear]

btw, that was base jumping...you know, that really sane sport where you jump off of tall buildings, bridges, and cliffs.

Oh, so those are the kids who, when asked by their dad, "If everyone else jumped off a bridge, would you do it?" didn't realize it was a rhetorical question and guessed, "Yes?"

 

[Ivan Seeking]

I have always been a thrill seeker but people these days are nuts!

Tsu has a cousin who is a die hard surfer and snow boarder. He is also buddies with several olympic level snow boarders. In his late twenties when I met him, the Big Kahuna [don't remember his real name] of snow boarding had broken some ridiculous number bones - about 130 separate breaks I think - and he was proud of it. I suspect that pride won't be first on his mind when he hits 40; more like pain. Really he was already in pretty bad shape but still pushing himself.

 

[Mk]

Animal rider or occupant of animal-drawn vehicle: 1:31,836
Falls of all kinds: 1:246
Fall...from slipping, tripping, and stumbling: 1:6,548
Contact with hot tap-water: 1:64,788
Contact with hornets, wasps and bees: 1:85,882
Narcotics and psychodysleptics [hallucinogens]: 1:567
Other and unspecified drugs, medicaments, and biologicals: 1:666
Alcohol: 1:12,188
Intentional self-harm [of all kinds]: 1:121
Falling, jumping, or pushed from a high place: 1:47,960
Legal intervention involving firearm discharge: 1:11,433
Legal execution: 1:58,618

Or it is 1:1 if you look at the Level III multiverse or many worlds theories.

 

[BobG]

Oh, so those are the kids who, when asked by their dad, "If everyone else jumped off a bridge, would you do it?" didn't realize it was a rhetorical question and guessed, "Yes?"

Yeah, that's exactly how I felt towards the end of a rafting trip when we stopped next to a 30 foot cliff so everyone could jump off into the river(Damn, why didn't I use one of my lifelines when he asked that question?) And then my wife asks why I didn't have anything clever to yell while I jumped. Habit, I guess. I always tend to yell the same obscenity when I think I'm about to die.

 

[tribdog]

I'm not making a joke here, but do you think the odds of dying in a tsunami changed?

 

[Imparcticle]

Tribdog: Yes.

So the good news is that you are more likely to be legally shot and killed than you are to fall, jump, or to be pushed from a high place, or to die from alcohol related causes.

WOW, that just made my day! [rolls eyes]

 

[russ_watters]

btw, that was base jumping...you know, that really sane sport where you jump off of tall buildings, bridges, and cliffs.

I'm not following...

There's a skydiving saying on a lot of t-shirts: you'll be fine as long as you don't do something stupid.

Seriously though, the vast majority of skydiving deaths are from stupidity. If it isn't drugs or alcohol, its flying your 'cute fast and low ("swooping") and crashing into the ground.

 

[DaveC426913]

I find this image fascinating.
http://www.nsc.org/lrs/statinfo/odds_dying.jpg

 

[Astronuc]

So, if people jumping out of planes cite beestings as more dangerous, what statistics do beekeepers cite to justify what they do?

Probably they weigh the odds of dying from a beesting against the odds of being hit by someone jumping out of a plane. I don't know too many beekeepers who are severely allergic to bees.

"Well, at least we're not like that tribdog character who's likely to die from all of the above simultaneously."

Knowing tribdog, he'll discover a new way and become the single statisitic.

I find this image fascinating.

Such an optimist.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

There's a skydiving saying on a lot of t-shirts: you'll be fine as long as you don't do something stupid.

Base jumping IS stupid. There is no room for errors or failures of any kind.

 

[DaveC426913]

if you are afraid of dying by a terrorist bomb. then you have to carry a bomb with you every time ready to detonate at detection of another explosion... the probabilities of dying from 2 diferent bombs at the same time is really small.

Anybody remember "The World According to GARP" with Robin Williams?

While they are looking at house to buy, a small plane crashes into it and destroys the second floor.
He immediately says "We'll take it!"
His wife makes strangling noises.
He says "Honey, think of the odds of this happening a second time!"