Deaths in Public Places

Preventable deaths in public include those caused by injuries in public places not involving motor vehicles. Most sports, recreation, and transportation deaths are included, but work-related deaths are excluded.

When comparing the risk of public deaths by age group, it is important to look at both the number of deaths and the death rate per 100,000 population. For example, while adults 75 and older experience 2% more fatalities than the next highest age group, the death rate for the 75 and older age group is 279% higher. Using death rates to compare the relative risk of death among age groups helps to compensate for the impact of different age group population sizes.

Use this interactive chart to compare age groups by number of deaths and death rates for the leading causes of public death.

Source: National Safety Council (NSC) estimates based on data from the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) and state vital statistics departments.