In 16 states, drug deaths overtake traffic fatalities
In 16 states and counting, drugs now kill more people than auto accidents do, the government said Wednesday.
Experts said the startling shift reflects two opposite trends: Driving is becoming safer, and the legal and illegal use of powerful prescription painkillers is on the rise.
For decades, traffic accidents have been the biggest cause of injury-related death in the U.S., and they are still No. 1. But drug overdoses are pulling ahead in one state after another.
