Deaths and Incidents

The Number One Threat for Youth: Not Cancer, Traffic

When we examine the table, we face a heartbreaking reality. In the natural course of human life, we see that causes like heart disease and cancer settle into the first rank among causes of death as people age (look at the columns for age 55 and above). This is the cycle of life.

However, when we turn our eyes to the 15-24 age range, the picture becomes terrifying.

• 15-24 Age Group (Rank 1): For this age group, traffic collisions rank 1st among causes of death. According to the table, exactly 6,753 youths lost their lives on the roads in the prime of their lives. Not suicide, not homicide, nor a disease... Traffic kills them the most.

• 5-14 Age Group (Rank 2): For our children who are still at the playing age (5-9 and 10-14 years), traffic collisions are the 2nd leading cause of death. Thousands of children lose their lives on the roads before they can reach their schools or parks.

• 25-34 Age Group (Rank 3): In this period of stepping into young adulthood, traffic collisions are still among the top 3 causes of death and involve an even higher loss of life (8,104 people) than the 15-24 age group.

The Story the Red Boxes Tell

Every time you look at those red boxes in the table, you should see not a statistic, but a life cut short.

• This danger, which is at the 9th rank even for babies under 1 year old, shoots up to the 4th rank the moment the child starts walking (1-4 years).

• In adolescence and youth (15-24 years), it sits at the peak.

These data scream this fact to us: We are losing our youth not in hospital rooms, but on the asphalt.

Conclusion: Responsibility at the Wheel

This table is not just a pile of data; it is a call to action. Traffic collisions are one of the biggest epidemics of the modern age, and the cure is "attention and obeying the rules."

Source: NTSSA