The Facts Hurt: A State-By-State Injury Prevention Policy Report

The Facts Hurt: A State-By-State Injury Prevention Policy Report found that, in the past four years, the number of injury deaths increased significantly in 17 states, remained stable in 24 states and decreased in nine states. Injuries are the leading cause of death for Americans ages 1 to 44 – and are responsible for nearly 193,000 deaths per year.

Drug overdoses are the leading cause of injury deaths in the United States, at nearly 44,000 per year.  These deaths have more than doubled in the past 14 years, and half of them are related to prescription drugs (22,000 per year).  Overdose deaths now exceed motor vehicle-related deaths in 36 states and Washington, D.C. And, in the past four years, drug overdose death rates have significantly increased in 26 states and Washington, D.C. and decreased in six.

The Facts Hurt report, released by TFAH and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) also includes a report card of 10 key indicators of leading evidence-based strategies that help reduce injuries and violence.  The indicators were developed in consultation with top injury prevention experts from the Safe States Alliance and the Society for the Advancement of Violence and Injury Research (SAVIR).

Twenty-nine states and Washington, D.C. scored a five or lower out of the 10 key injury-prevention indicators. New York received the highest score of nine out of a possible 10, while four states scored the lowest, Florida, Iowa, Missouri and Montana, with two out of 10.

The 10 indicators include:

• Does the state have a primary seat belt law? (34 states and Washington, D.C. meet the indicator and 16 states do not.)
• Does the state require mandatory ignition interlocks for all convicted drunk drivers, even first-time offenders? (21 states meet the indicator and 29 states and Washington, D.C. do not.)
• Does the state require car seats or booster seats for children up to at least the age of 8? (35 states and Washington, D.C. meet the indicator and 15 do not.)
• Does the state have Graduated Driver Licensing laws – restricting driving for teens starting at 10 pm? (11 states meet the indicator and 39 states and Washington, D.C. do not. Note a number of other states have restrictions starting at 11 pm or 12 pm.)
• Does the state require bicycle helmets for all children? (21 states and Washington, D.C. meet the indicator and 29 states do not.)
• Does the state have fewer homicides than the national goal of 5.5 per 100,000 people established by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) (2011-2013 data)? (31 states meet the indicator and 19 states and Washington, D.C. do not.)
• Does the state have a child abuse and neglect victimization rate at or below the national rate of 9.1 per 1,000 children (2013 data)? (25 states meet the indicator and 25 states and Washington, D.C. do not.)
• Does the state have fewer deaths from unintentional falls than the national goal of 7.2 per 100,000 people established by HHS (2011-2013 data)? (13 states meet the indicator and 37 states and Washington, D.C. do not.)
• Does the state require mandatory use of data from the prescription drug monitoring program by at least some healthcare providers? (25 states meet the indicator and 25 states and Washington, D.C. do not.)
• Does the state have laws in place to expand access to, and use of, naloxone, an overdose rescue drug by laypersons? (34 states and D.C. meet the indicator and 16 states do not.)

Score Summary:

For the state-by-state scoring, states received one point for achieving an indicator or zero points if they did not achieve the indicator. Zero is the lowest possible overall score, 10 is the highest.

9 out of 10: New York

8 out of 10: Delaware

7 out of 10: California, New Jersey, North Carolina, Tennessee, Washington and West Virginia

6 out of 10: Alaska, Colorado, Hawaii, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island and Virginia

5 out of 10: Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Massachusetts, Oklahoma, Utah, Vermont and Wisconsin

4 out of 10: Arizona, District of Columbia, Idaho, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, New Hampshire, North Dakota and Pennsylvania

3 out of 10: Nebraska, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas and Wyoming

2 out of 10: Florida, Iowa, Missouri and Montana