WASHINGTON, June 11 (UPI) -- The United States has seen a record rate of accidental deaths in the last two years, primarily caused by drug overdoses and falls.
A report from the National Safety Council revealed that more than 136,000 people died accidentally in 2014, representing a 4.2 percent increase from the previous year and a 15.5 percent rise within a decade.
Overdose and accidental poisoning overtook vehicle crashes as the leading cause of death, killing 42,000 people in 2014.
Increased vehicle safety has been seen as a reason for the decrease in automotive deaths, as well as changes in drivers license requirements for teens.
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"Far fewer teenagers and young adults are dying on the roads than they were in 1981," National Safety Council director Ken Kolosh said.
The use of opioids contributed to the increase in deaths by overdoses with the highly addictive painkiller killing 13,486 people in 2014.
The number of people killed in accidental falls also increased drastically, rising from fewer than 10,00 deaths in 1992 to nearly 32,000 in 2014.
Kolosh said that the primary reason for the dramatic increase in falling death was the result of an aging society.
"We have more older adults who are at much greater risk for falls," he said.
The study states that an American dies of accidental injury every four minutes, with the rate increasing to two minutes if those who required medical help but did not die are included.
Kolosh said that the statistics do not necessarily show that Americans are accident-prone, but rather that individuals and society can do more to avoid accidents.
"Every individual has the opportunity to make choices to keep themselves safe," he said. "It's all preventable. Every accident is preventable, but it's not necessarily the [fault] of the victim."
