New analysis from the National Safety Council (NSC) indicates unintentional deaths hit their highest number in history in 2017.
The data, released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), shows fatalities resulting from preventable accidents rose to 169,936 in 2017, a 5.3% increase from 2016.
"For years, the United States has accepted unintentional injuries as an unavoidable reality. These data show us that our collective complacency costs us 466 lives every day," the NSC stated. "The truth is, there is no such thing as an accident. We know what to do to save lives, but as a nation, we have not consistently prioritized safety at work, at home and on the road."
The number of preventable fatalities was driven in large part by the opioid epidemic in the United States.
An American is killed accidentally every three minutes by a drug overdose, a motor vehicle crash, a fall, a drowning, a choking incident or another preventable occurrence, according to the NSC.
