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Unintentional Injury

Home > Illnesses and Disabilities Home > Types of Illnesses & Disabilities > Unintentional Injury

Unintentional injuries include motor vehicle accidents, accidental falls, and firearm accidents. These can cause disabling conditions. For instance, if you are in a motor vehicle accident, you can wind up with a spinal cord injury or traumatic brain injury. You can damage your eyes or have to have a limb amputated.

There are proven ways to prevent unintentional injuries, which can result in disability or death. Here are just a few:

• Wear a seat belt while driving.
• Put infants and toddlers in a safety seat in the back seat of the car and secure them with a seat belt.
• Put children 4 to 8 years old in a belt-positioning booster seat in the back seat of the car. Booster seats raise a child's sitting height so that they can be secured with a standard seat belt.
• Wear a helmet when riding on a motorcycle or bicycle.
• Don't drink alcohol when you drive.
• Use handrails when walking up or down stairs.
• Stay physically active as you get older to improve leg strength and balance. This helps prevent falls among seniors.

Additional Resources

Publications

1.   Impaired Driving Fact Sheet - This fact sheet provides statistics on the occurrence, consequences, and cost of impaired driving. It highlights specific groups at risk for injury and death due to impaired driving and lists prevention strategies that have worked in the past.

   http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/factsheets/drving.htm

2.   Injury Related Websites - This Internet site from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention provides referrals to Internet sites containing information on injuries. The CDC is not responsible for the information on these Internet sites.

   http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/injweb/websites.htm

3.   Unintentional Injury Prevention - This web site, from the Division of Unintentional Injury Prevention in CDC's Injury Center, links to fact sheets, publications, prevention information, and statistics about unintentional injury.

   http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/duip/duip.htm

4. SOPHE Unintentional Injury and Violence Prevention (Copyright © SOHPE) - The SOPHE injury prevention website is designed to strengthen the connection between behavioral science and health education with more comprehensive approaches to unintentional injury and violence prevention.

   http://www.sophe.org/ui/index.html

Organizations

1.   National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, CDC, OPHS, HHS
2.   National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, DOT
3.   U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission
4. Children's Safety Network National Injury and Violence Prevention Resource Center, MCHB, HRSA, OPHS, HHS
5. National Fire Protection Association
6. National Resource Center for Safe Aging
7. National Safe Kids Campaign
8. Prevention Institute

= Indicates Federal Resources

Content last updated May 15, 2008.