What's More Dangerous? Insure.com Looks at Everyday Risks, From Vacuum Cleaners to Cars
September 21 2009 - 5:30AM
PR Newswire (US)
DARIEN, Ill., Sept. 21 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- When you're
cleaning your house, should you be more scared of your washing
machine or your vacuum cleaner? If you had to choose, should you
ride with a teen driver or a 90-year-old driver? Insure.com asked
Fred Kilbourne, actuary with The Kilbourne Company in San Diego, to
provide answers to pressing questions about our everyday risks.
What's the most dangerous appliance in the house? Washing machines
are more likely to injure you but clothes dryers are more likely to
kill you. On the other hand, floor-care equipment causes more
injuries than either washers or dryers. What's more dangerous:
Lightning or hail? Lightning kills about 100 people annually in the
United States, but there has been only one recorded instance of a
hail kill. What's more dangerous in the backyard: A trampoline or a
swimming pool? Beware of the swimming pool. Trampolines send nearly
100,000 people to the emergency room each year but cause very few
deaths. More than 1,000 Americans die each year in swimming pools.
What's more dangerous: Bees or sharks? In this case, danger comes
in small packages: You are 50 times more likely to be killed by a
bee than by a shark. What's more dangerous: A car or a gun? You are
substantially more likely to be killed by a car than by a gun.
What's more dangerous: Driving 20 mph drunk or driving 90 mph
sober? All things considered, it's more dangerous to drive 90 mph
sober than to drive 20 mph drunk. Fatalities can result from
driving at even very low speeds, but the risk of death due to
driving drunk at 20 mph is fairly low - unless the drunk gets in
the way of a car going much faster. Also, the danger of going 90
mph is greater partly because the sober driver probably isn't going
with the flow of traffic (a safety issue), and also because the
relative force involved in a 90 mph crash is much greater than a 20
mph crash. What's more dangerous: A teen driver or a 90-year-old
driver? You're probably better off riding with the old-timer than
the teen. A small statistical sample indicates that the teen
car-crash death rate is about triple the older drivers' death rate.
What's the most dangerous occupation in the United States? Coal
miner? Crab fisherman? No, the most dangerous occupation belongs to
the President of the United States. Nine percent of our presidents
have been assassinated. For more dangerous undertakings, see
"What's more dangerous?" at
http://www.insure.com/articles/generalinsurance/whats-more-dangerous.html.
About Insure.com Insure.com provides a comprehensive consumer
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to the needs of self-directed insurance shoppers. Visitors to
company's flagship Web site, http://www.insure.com/, are able to
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quotes, home, business and health insurance quotes from leading
insurers and have the freedom to buy online or by phone from any
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authored articles on consumer insurance topics and provides free
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stock trade on the Nasdaq Capital Market under the symbol NSUR.
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Corporation. DATASOURCE: Insure.com, Inc. CONTACT: Amy Danise,
Editor at Insure.com, Inc., +1-860-386-6446, Web Site:
http://insure.com/
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