Here’s an interesting article recently published from the World Health Organization. According to the article, the leading cause of death from injuries in the world comes from “road traffic injuries.” That’s more than suicide, homicide, war, drowning, falls, fires, and poisoning. Here’s some perspective:

Every day around the world, almost 16,000 people die from injuries. For every person that dies, several thousands more are injured, many of them with permanent sequelae of injuries. Injuries occur in all regions and countries, and affect people in all age and income groups. The magnitude of the problem however varies considerably by age, sex, region and income group. For example, in the low- and middle-income countries in the Western Pacific the leading injury-related causes of death are road traffic injuries, drowning and suicide, while in Africa they are war, interpersonal violence and traffic injuries. In the high-income countries of the Americas, the leading injury-related cause of death among people aged 15 to 44 years is traffic injuries, while in the low- and middle-income countries of the Americas it is interpersonal violence.

Overall, road traffic injuries represent the tenth leading cause of death in the world. Most of these deaths are young adults who are at their prime. This means that there are real consequences to road traffic deaths, both economic and social.

Now just imagine if more of us walked, instead. Then, we could focus on the next leading cause of death due to injury: suicide! Then again, it might stand to reason that if more of us walked, more of us would be happy, which would hopefully cut down on suicide and homicide.