ACCIDENTAL DEATHS

Dominion, Volume 20, Issue 136, 5 March 1927, Page 25

ACCIDENTAL DEATHS

INCIDENCE IN DOMINION FIFTY-FOUR YEARS’ REVIEW TOLL OF MOTOR VEHICLES In an interesting article in the Monthly Abstract of Statistics for February, the Government Statistician gives some important facts concerning the incidence and causes of accidental deaths in the Dominion. Accidents and negligence are the j principal causes of deaths duo to external violence, while suicide also accounts for a considerable number. Homicidal deaths are of small consequence in New Zealand, •,

Accidental deaths in the Dominion, the statistician states, aggregate approximately 75 per cent, of all deaths from violence and G per cent, of deaths from all causes. As these deaths arc to a certain extent preventable, precautionary measures are alwafs being introduced to lessen the risk to exposure, and a study of the figures over a period of years 'reveals to what extent aud in what direction this end has been attained. In the table following, Die number of deaths duo to acciden'.nl causes and the nite per 10,(100 of mean population are given for each five-yearly uorioi! from 1872 to 1925;—

•Fair Years. During the fifty-four years under review the annual rate decreased front 10.27 per 10,009 of mean population for the quinquennium 1872-70 to 4.60 per 10,000 for the four years 1922-25. This is a most remarkable decrease, and represents a decline of nearly 45 per cent., or 0.8 per cent, per annum. An outstanding feature is the steady fall from quinquennium to quinquennium, the figures showing that the rate decreased 36 per cent, during the first twenty-five years and 40 per cent, over the remaining years of the period. Improved Conditions. The decrease shown in the earlier years is to be expected, says the Statistician, as many improvements introduced with the object pl making life less'subject to accidental injury arc in operation, and, generally speaking, conditions to-day are certainly not to be compared with the hardships endured during the embryo stages of development of the colony. As conditions gradually improved, so did the death-rate from these causes, with a.corresponding decline for the general rate for all accidental causes. That this decrease is still in evidence in recent years only goes to show the efficacy of the measures taken to cope with these matters, made up, as they are, of a multifarious number of causes, all liar*to their own environment. Deaths from burns show the greatest movement- over t'he period, decreasing from 10.27 per 100,000 in 1872-76 to 2.2. i per 100,000 in 1922-25, a decline of 78 per cent. Drowning, which still contributes the second greatest number or accidental deaths (being exceeded in recent years ■ by the group covering railway and motor-vehicle accidents), shows the second largest reduction in the rate—72 per cent. Asphyxiation, the numbers for which, particularly in earlier years, are considerably swelled by the inclusion of .:asee or overlying of infants, with a percentage decrease of 60. and poisoning with 64, also show a decided recession during the period. Looking through ihe figures for drowning, it is easy to trace the influence of big marine casualties on the death-rates for the quinquennia involved. The wreck of the Tararua in 1881, with a total loss of 130 lives, the Wairarapa in 1894, .with a loss of 135 lives, the Elingannte in 1902, ana the Penguin in 1909, with losses of 43 and 75 lives respectively, are very apparent.

‘rhe greatest number of deaths in 11125 appears under the heading of railways, motor-vehicles, etc., followed nt varying intervals by deaths from drowning, falls, ami burns. Up to and including 1917. drowning was the. principal cause of accidefttal deaths, hu.t stneo that year railways, motor-vehicles, de., have contributed an ever-increasing number. /\ peculiar feature is that y whereas the death-rate from the latter class shows a distinct tendency to increase fho .other causes exhibit a decline. In classifying deaths, the rule of assignment is that in collisions of railway trains and < lectr)o tramears, with motor-vehicles, the death is assigned to the railway or electric tram- as being the heavier and more powerful vehicle. In the case of collisions between 1 .otor-vehicles and horsedrawn vehicles, the death is assigned to the motor-vehicle. , The following table gives the number and the rate tier 100.099 of deaths from traumatism by railways, tramways, motor-vehicles, and other vehicles:— Hail- Train- Motor Other ways. ways, vehicles, vehicles.

It is evident from the above figures that deaths from traumatism by motor vehicles arc steadily increasing. , Die death rate from this type oi accident has increased 11 per cent, since 1-J-L 12 per cent, occurring during the year 1925. The ever-increasing congestion ot public streets and the expanding employment of motor transportation generally have been great factors in producing this increase. Traumatism by railways shows a slight upward movement in the rate, no doubt the result of the increased number of collisions between motor vehicles and railway trains. The number of deaths accredited to traumatism from tramways and from other vehicles shows a decided decrease, which in the latter class is the direct consequence of a great falling off in the use now made of horsedrawn vehicles. Comparison with Other Countries. Although conditions controlling accidental deaths differ to a pronounced degree in different countries, it is nevertheless pf considerable interest to compare the death rates for the various principal causes. Taking a rate to cover all accidental causes, the United States ranks easily first, with a death rate of 76.4 per 100,000 ot population Canada comes second, with a rate ot 53.0, closely followed by Australia, with 52.8. New Zealand is next on the list, with 46.7; while England and Wales, 34.1 per 100,000, enjoys the lowest posi. tion. Traumatism by motor vehicles is extremely high in the United States, there being a considerable drop to the next highest—Australia. The New Zealand figure approximates this latter figure and is considerably higher than the numbers for Canada and England and Wales. . Deaths from drowning are relatively much more numerous in the three Dominions than in the United Kingdom and the United States, while, as might be expected, the converse holds true in the case of deaths arising out of accidents in mines and quarries. In comparison with the other four countries under review. Now Zealand has the lowest rates for accidental burns falls, and traumatism by machinery: and the New Zealand rates for deaths under anaesthetic, etc., and traumatism by firearms, compare very favourably with those for the other countries dealt with.

Annual Kato 1872-1876 .... No. of Deaths. 1670 per 10,090. 10.27 1877-1881 .... .... 2209 9.86 1,882-1886 .... 2.306 8.44 1887-1891 .... 2315 7.50 1892-1898 .... 2565 7.59 1897-1901 .... 2401 6.41 c 1902-1906 ... 2815 6.06 1907-1911 2955 6.10 1912-1916 .... 2960 5.48 1917-1921 .... 2782 4.83 1922-1925* ... 2371 4.60

1921 ... ... 36 14 69 23 1922 .. ... 45 9 61 27 1923 ... ... 69 14 59 16 1924 ... .... 10 10 94 13 1925 ... ... 43 8 10S 16