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Unintentional Injury
Unintentional injuries are mostly caused by motor vehicle crashes, falls, drowning, burns, and accidental poisoning. Intentional injuries result from deliberate acts - suicide, homicide, and assault. Suicide is addressed in the mental health section of this report. Homicide and assault are addressed in the Community Action Network's Community Assessment: Public Safety, Crime Prevention and Victimization.
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Nationally, unintentional injury accounts for more physician visits than any other health condition. In Texas, the MSA, and Travis County, unintentional injury is the leading cause of death for individuals between the ages of one and 44 and the leading cause of lost years of potential life in all populations except Blacks (TDH, September 2000, Epigram).
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Unintentional injury is the leading cause of death for individuals between the ages of one and 44.
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The Healthy People Year 2000 target for all unintentional injuries was no more than 29.3 deaths per 100,000 population (Public Health Service, 1990).
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Motor Vehicle Traffic Accidents
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- According to Texas Department of Health records, half of all deaths from unintentional injury in Travis County were caused by motor vehicle crashes.
- While crash injuries and fatalities declined from the mid-1980s to a ten-year low in 1990, the decade of the 90's has seen a steady rise. Department of Public Safety (DPS) statistics show that from 1990 to 1997, annual fatalities doubled from 50 to 105, and injuries increased from 10,050 to 14,356, a 43 percent rise.
- Of the six largest urban counties in Texas, Travis County had the highest number of DPS-reported traffic fatalities per 100,000 population in 1996 and 1997. The other five counties declined in both absolute numbers of fatalities and fatality rates from 1996 to 1997, while Travis County's fatalities increased by 11 percent. Furthermore, only Travis and Tarrant Counties showed an increase in overall traffic injuries from 1996 to 1997.
- After peaking for the decade at 105 in 1997, fatalities in Travis County declined to 88 in 1998. Non-fatal injuries also declined in 1998 after eight years of almost continuous increase.
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There was a steep decline in fatalities on FM Roads, from 30 in 1997 to 12 in 1998. This decline on FM Roads accounts for almost the entire decline in fatalities in Travis County from 1997 to 1998. The percent of fatalities occurring on interstate, US and state routes increased from 50.5 percent in 1997 to 63.6 percent in 1998. This continued a four-year trend of these routes accounting for a progressively higher percentage of the County's fatalities, while city streets accounted for a progressively lower percentage. City streets accounted for only 17 percent of the fatalities in 1998, but 43.7 percent of the injuries.
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Pedestrian Injuries
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- Between 1994 and 1998, 69 Austin pedestrians were struck and killed by motor vehicles.
- 49 percent of the victims were white and 51 percent minority.
- 77 percent (53) of the victims were males.
- 33 percent of the pedestrians were under 20 or over 60 years of age.
- 29 percent (20) of the pedestrians were killed on I-35.
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Motor Vehicle Collisions with Bicycles
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- From 1990 to 1996, 1222 bicyclists suffered non-fatal injuries in collisions with motor vehicles on Travis County roads. Of theses injuries, 179 (14.6 percent) were incapacitating.
- From 1990 to 1996, DPS statistics show that 12 bicyclists were killed on Travis County roads.
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Accidental Poisoning
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- Accidental poisoning is the second leading cause of unintentional injury deaths in Travis County.
- In 1999, the Texas Poison Center Network (TPCN) received 7,140 calls relating to human exposures to toxic substances.
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Other Injuries
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- All other unintentional injuries combined account for less than 25 percent of the total unintentional injury deaths in Travis County during 1998 (TDH, September 2000, Epigram).
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