Since 1990, the number of Americans who have died every year from car accidents…
… has dipped, risen slowly but then declined, in part as a result of safer cars and improved road safety. Recessions and increasing gas prices can sometimes lead to a temporary drop in car accident fatalities, as seen in the late 2000s. Deaths are on the rise again recently, perhaps because of more distracted driving.
Since 1990, the number of Americans who have died every year from guns…
… has been slowly rising after a drop in the 1990s. Gun deaths increased by 8 percent in 2015, the largest single-year jump since the C.D.C. began keeping computerized death records. Over 60 percent of gun deaths are suicides.
Since 1990, the number of Americans who have died every year from H.I.V.…
… has spiked and then plummeted. By the mid-1990s, over 40,000 people were dying from H.I.V. each year, but death rates fell sharply with the development of antiretroviral treatments. Nevertheless, H.I.V. remains a leading cause of death for those 25 to 44, particularly among black men.
Since 1990, the number of Americans who have died every year from drug overdoses…
… has increased by more than 500 percent. In 2015, more Americans died from drug overdoses than from car accidents and gun homicides combined.
It’s the worst drug overdose epidemic in American history, spurred by rising drug abuse, increased availability of prescription opioids and an influx of potent synthetics like fentanyl and carfentanil.
“It’s horrifying,” said Dr. Dan Ciccarone, a heroin research
