Friday 4 April 2008

you can die from that -- UPDATE

Regular readers already know you can die from that, but here's the other piece of the puzzle: how likely is it?

1 in 4870 lifetime chance of dying in a fall from bed.
1 in undefined lifetime chance of dying by being bitten or crushed by "other reptiles."
1 in 125,655 lifetime chance of dying from hot tap water.
1 in 72,494 lifetime chance of being legally executed (should this be called a 'preventable death'?)
1 in 134,631* lifetime chance of dying as a result of operations of war and sequelae.

Surprisingly, there is only a 1 in 3,421 lifetime chance of dying from exposure to forces of nature. What the National Safety Council means by forces of nature, ironically, are what insurance companies usually call Acts of God -- cataclysmic events such as those described as miracles in the bible. Does the NSC have an agenda of which I wasn't aware?

* It should be noted that these numbers are for the United States. Since this figure counts 28 such deaths in 2004, it obviously refers to individuals in the US, not worldwide.

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