How States Rank Injury Prevention

When it comes to preventing injury, California and New York states rank the highest.

On a set of 10 steps states can take to prevent injuries, 24 states scored a five or lower. Two states, California and New York, received the highest score of nine out of a possible 10, while two states scored the lowest, Montana and Ohio, with two out of 10.

Overall, New Mexico has the highest rate of injury-related deaths in the United States, at a rate of 97.8 per 100,000 people, while New Jersey has the lowest rate at 36.1 per 100,000, according to the report. The national rate is 57.9 per 100,000 Americans who die in injury-related fatalities.

Injuries — including those caused by accidents and violence — are the third leading cause of death nationally, and they are the leading cause of death for Americans between the ages of one and 44.

The “Facts Hurt: A State-By-State Injury Prevention Policy Report,” released by the Trust for America’s Health (TFAH) and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), concludes that millions of injuries could be prevented each year if more states adopted additional research-based injury prevention policies, and if programs were fully implemented and enforced.

Approximately 50 million Americans are medically treated for injuries each year, and more than 2.8 million are hospitalized. Nearly 12,000 children and teens die from injuries resulting from accidents each year and around 9.2 million are treated in emergency rooms. Every year, injuries generate $406 billion in lifetime costs for medical care and lost productivity.

For The Facts Hurt report, TFAH and RWJF worked with a committee of injury prevention experts from the Safe States Alliance and the Society for the Advancement of Violence and Injury Prevention (SAVIR) to develop a set of indicators of leading evidence-based strategies that have been shown to reduce injuries and save lives. Some key findings include:

• 29 states do not require bicycle helmets for all children;
• 17 states do not require that children ride in a car seat or booster seat to at least the age of eight;
• 31 states do not require helmets for all motorcycle riders;
• 34 states and Washington, D.C., do not require mandatory ignition interlocks for convicted drunk drivers;
• 18 states do not have primary seat belt laws;
• 44 states scored a “B” or lower on a teen dating violence law review by the Break the Cycle organization; and
• 13 states do not have strong youth sport concussion safety laws.

“There are proven, evidence-based strategies that can spare millions of Americans from injuries each year,” said Jeff Levi, PhD, executive director of TFAH. “This report focuses on specific, scientifically supported steps we can take to make it easier for Americans to keep themselves and their families safer.”

The report found that many injury prevention activities have been scientifically shown to reduce harm and deaths, for instance:

• Seat belts saved an estimated 69,000 lives from 2006 to 2010;
• Motorcycle helmets saved an estimated 8,000 lives from 2005 to 2009;
• Child safety seats saved around 1,800 lives from 2005 to 2009;
• The number of children and teens killed in motor vehicle crashes dropped 41 percent from 2000 to 2009; and
• School-based programs to prevent violence have cut violent behavior among high school students by 29 percent.

The report was supported by a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and is available on TFAH’s website at www.healthyamericans.org.

States received one point for achieving an indicator or zero points if they did not achieve the indicator. Zero is the lowest possible overall score, 10 is the highest.

The 10 indicators include:

• Does the state have a primary seat belt law? (32 states and Washington, D.C. meet the indicator and 18 state do not)
• Does the state require mandatory ignition interlocks for all convicted drunk drivers, even first time offenders? (16 states meet the indicator and 34 states and Washington, D.C. do not)
• Does the state have a universal helmet law requiring helmets for all motorcycle riders? (19 states and Washington, D.C. meet the indicator and 31 states do not)
• Does the state require car seats or booster seats for children to at least the age of eight? (33 states and Washington, D.C. meet the indicator and 17 states do not)
• Does the state requirement bicycle helmets for all children? (21 states and Washington, D.C. meet the indicator and 29 states do not)
• Does the state allow for people in dating relationships to get protection orders? (44 states and Washington, D.C. meet the indicator and 6 states do not)
• Did the state receive an “A” grade in the teen dating violence laws analysis conducted by the Break the Cycle Organization? (6 states and Washington, D.C. meet the indicator and 44 states did not)
• Does the state have a strong youth sports concussion safety law? (37 states and Washington, D.C. meet the indicator and 13 states do not)
• Did the state enact a prescription drug monitoring program? (48 states meet the indicator and 2 states and Washington, D.C. do not)
• Did more than 90 percent of injury discharges from hospitals receive external cause-of-injury coding in the state, which help researchers and health officials track industry trends and evaluate prevention programs? (23 states meet the indicator and 27 states and Washington, D.C. do not)