In Repose Blog

Guns or...Doctors?

Facts to ponder from an email that landed in my inbox this morning from a very nice lawman I know.

(A) The number of physicians
in the U.S. is 700,000.

(B) Accidental deaths caused by
Physicians per year are 120,000.

(C) Accidental deaths per physician is 0.171.

(Statistics courtesy of U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services.)

Now think about this:

(A) The number of gun owners in the U.S.
is 80,000,000.

(Yes, that's 80 million, and they are not ALL in the state of Texas, but I digress....)

(B) The number of accidental gun deaths
per year, all age groups, is 1,500.

(C) The number of accidental deaths
per gun owner is 0.000188.

(Statistics courtesy of FBI)

So, statistically, doctors are
approximately 9,000 times
more dangerous than gun owners.

Remember, "Guns don't kill people,
doctors do."

FACT: NOT EVERYONE HAS A GUN, BUT ALMOST EVERYONE
HAS AT LEAST ONE DOCTOR.

Please alert your friends
to this alarming threat.

Car Crash Statistics

 Last week  I submitted a letter, ("I have wondered...")to  Grief is Good. It was published yesterday, June 11, 2007. It was a short letter to my brother Randy who died at the hands of a reckless teenage driver.

So many of my friends and family have died on the road. Here are some current statistics:

• There were nearly 6,420,000 auto accidents in the United States last year.
• The financial cost of these crashes is more than 230 Billion dollars.
• 2.9 million people were injured and 42,636 people killed.
• About 115 people die every day in vehicle crashes in the United States -- one death every 13 minutes.
• Exceeding the posted speed limit or driving at an unsafe speed is the most common error in fatal accidents.
• Young drivers are involved in fatal traffic crashes at over twice the rate as the rest of the population.

(Randy was killed by a 17 year old driver who had, in the months prior to that terrible day in April, received multiple reckless driving tickets. He terrorized his neighbors with his souped-up, jacked-up teenager truck. Sadly, and amazing to report,  It was only a few days before ending my brother's life that this boy actually stood before a judge who was to consider whether or not to suspend his driver's license. The judge decided to give him yet another chance.  I have wondered for years if that judge ever knew what price his leniency cost my family.)