Barstow Community College The National Safety Council Discussion and Response

Consider the following list of odds by various causes of death…Are there any that surprised you? Which ones did you think would be less likely to happen than the odds indicated, and which ones would you think would be more likely? [And, for a timely comparison, the odds of winning the Mega Millions Lottery jackpot is 1 in 302,575,350.] (3 points)Research the cause of death by “

Walking

” (

1 in 672

) – under what circumstances do people die by walking? Find supportive information and data to back up your claim – post link(s). Is this probability accurate? (6 points)Use google or other search engines and research these or other similar odds/probabilities on causes of death. Do they generally agree with this table? Why or why not? Did you find something that can be added to this table? (8 points)

(Note: You must post before seeing other posts.)

Respond to at least one of your classmates’ posts substantively and share your thoughts about their posts – do you share the same perceptions – i.e. are you surprised at what they are surprised at? (Generic responses using any combination of phrases or sentences that I feel you could use to respond to any post will result in zero points.) (8 points)

Odds of Dying

CAUSE OF DEATH

LIFETIME ODDS

CAUSE  OF DEATH

LIFETIME ODDS

Heart disease

1 in 7

Choking on food

1 in 3,409

Cancer

1 in 7

Bicycling

1 in 4,337

Any injury

1 in 21

Accidental gunshot

1 in 7,945

Chronic lung disease

1 in 27

Police

1 in 8,359

Accidents

1 in 31

Airplane and spaceship incidents

1 in 9,738

Stroke

1 in 31

Heat wave

1 in 10,785

Alzheimer’s disease

1 in 47

Electricity/radiation/heat/pressure

1 in 14,697

Diabetes

1 in 53

Animal attack or accident

1 in 30,167

Influenza/pneumonia

1 in 70

Sharp objects accident

1 in 30,863

Kidney disease

1 in 85

Suicide

1 in 98

Tornado

1 in 60,000

Any motor vehicle incident

1 in 113

Cataclysmic storm

1 in 63,685

Falling

1 in 133

Asteroid (global impact)

1 in 75,000

Murder

1 in 249

Legal execution

1 in 111,449

Assault by gun

1 in 358

Dog attack

1 in 114,634

Car/van/truck incidents

1 in 565

Earthquake

1 in 130,000

Suffocation

1 in 608

Bus, train, or streetcar

1 in 160,487

Walking1 in 672

Lightning

1 in 174,443

Motorcycle

1 in 949

Stinging by hornets, wasps, and bees

1 in 308,629

Drowning

1 in 1,183

Asteroid (regional impact)

1 in 1,600,000

Poisoning {liquid,gas, solid)

1 in 1,355

Shark attack

1 in 8,000,000

Fire or smoke

1 in 1,454

Assault by sharp object

1 in 2,448

Any force of nature

1 in 3,122

Question 1. A. I think the ones that were most surprising to me from the list were walking and heat waves. I don’t think I’ve ever really heard of someone dying from either of those two. I think the ones that would be less likely to happen than the odds indicated are: falling, walking, and any force of nature. I think that the ones that would be more likely to happen than indicated are: cancer, diabetes, and drowning. B. There are many ways in which a person can die while walking. Sometimes it might be their own faults or it might not be their faults. Some circumstances in which a person can die while walking include when a person is not being aware of their surroundings. For example looking down on the floor or being distracted by their phones or sometimes it isn’t even their faults but the people driving around them. For example a driver can be under the influence of drugs or alcohol or even both. According to the California Office of Safety Traffic, there has been an increase in pedestrian injuries and deaths. Like stated before an article by John J. Garvey talks about how there has been an increase in pedestrian deaths by walking because of things like being distracted whether that’s the person or a driver, intoxication, and low visibility. Not being able to see and be aware of your surroundings increases the likelihood of pedestrians being at risk of dying when they are walking. I think that the probability is pretty close and accurate. It might even be more right now in 2023 since there has been an increase in pedestrian injuries and deaths.https://www.ots.ca.gov/media-and-research/campaigns/pedestrian-safety/https://www.johngarveylaw.com/santa-clara-personal-injury-attorney/why-are-there-so-many-pedestrian-accidents-in-californiaC. From what I’ve seen and the websites I’ve looked at they generally agree with the table shown. For certain types of death there is a big difference within the table and what I see in other websites. For example, on the table the odds for death by stinging by hornets, wasps, and bees is 1 in 308,629, while in another website it was 1 in 54,516. As you can see there is a huge difference between these two. For the rest however, they are pretty close in numbers. I think that the reason that most of the websites agree with the table is because of content research and new information being brought into light about probabilities about things like these. The information gets out and then that becomes the new statistic. One thing that can be added to the chart that is something I have never heard of before is death by constipation. Apparently a person with constipation has a 12% higher all-cause mortality rate. https://www.medicinenet.com/what_are_the_odds_of_getting_cancer/article.htm https://injuryfacts.nsc.org/all-injuries/preventable-death-overview/odds-of-dying/