Injury Statistics - National

Cycling

• Cycling is one of the leading causes of sports and recreation–related head injury. Of the 4,605 cycling injury hospitalizations in 2003–2004, 18% were due to head injuries.
• The highest proportion of hospitalizations due to cycling-related head injuries was seen in children and youth at 60%.
• A helmet, properly fitted and worn correctly can prevent up to 85% of head injuries.

Driving

• Car crashes are the leading cause of death for young people 15-20 years old.
• A U.S. study found that one-third of people killed in crashes involving drivers 15-17 are the teen drivers themselves; the other two-thirds are their passengers, occupants of other vehicles, pedestrians and cyclists.
• Unbelted drivers are nearly 38 times more likely to be killed than belted drivers in similar collisions, according to Ontario data.
• The risk of a front-seat passenger being killed rises 75% with an unrestrained passenger in the back seat.

Skiing and Snowboarding

• An average of 11 avalanche fatalities have occurred each year in Canada over the last 30 years.
• It is estimated that humans trigger 95% of fatal Canadian avalanches (55% by skiers, and 32% by snowmobilers).
• Research suggests that wearing a helmet during winter sports reduces your risks of head injury anywhere from 22-60%.
• Some external causes for injury while skiing or snowboarding include falls involving skis, striking against or struck by/while skiing or snowboarding and striking against or bumped into by another person in while skiing or snowboarding.
• Of all hospitalized snowboarding injuries, 51.3% of people suffered an upper limb fracture from 2000-2001.

ATVs and Snowmobiling

• Between 1994 and 2000, an average of 400 Canadian children age 14 and under were hospitalized each year with serious injuries due to an all-terrain vehicle (ATV)-related incident.
• In 2004–2005, there were 4,104 admissions to Canadian hospitals for injuries related to an incident involving an ATV.
• Between 2004-2005, 7,076 deaths in hospital due to ATV traumatic injuries
• Of those injured in ATV or snowmobile incidents with alcohol levels above the legal limit of .08%, 94% were the drivers.
• Off-road vehicles accounted for 25% of admissions for summer sports and recreation–related severe injuries in 2004–2005, second only to cycling (43%).
• Snowmobile-related injuries accounted for 40% of winter sports and recreation–related injuries in a specialized trauma unit in 2004–2005.

Water Activities

• There were 245 deaths from drowning in Canada in 2004.
• There were also 238 hospitalizations as a result of drowning in Canada in 2004.
• The annual cost for drowning for all ages in Canada was $106 million in 2004.
• Second only to car crashes, drowning kills more Canadian children under the age of 14 than any other cause of injury.
• Child drowning happens most often in home swimming pools, open bodies of water (such as lakes or streams) and bathtubs.