As per the report released by the National Safety Council (NSC), the nation's accidental death rate has been gradually creeping higher and is up 20 percent over the last 10 years compared to the lowest rate on record, in 1992. The NSC report has calculated the annual expense of accidents in the U.S. to be approximately $625.5 billion -- or about $5,500 per household.  More than half of all fatal injuries, and 75% of all disabling ones, occur very near the home.

Motor vehicle crashes, the leading cause of accidental deaths, are up only slightly from 2004 to 2005, according to council estimates. In the state of Pennsylvania, motor vehicle accidents are the top form of unintentional injury, followed by poisoning, falling, choking, and fire-related deaths. In all of America, the statistics remain similar; the only exception being drowning, which takes the place of fire-related fatalities. On the other side, Massachusetts had the lowest accidental death rate at 20.6 deaths per 100,000 people, and New Mexico had the highest accidental death rate at 65.5 deaths per 100,000 people. The National Safety Council has tracked unintentional injuries and deaths since the 1920s and publishes the Journal of Safety Research, an international, peer-reviewed journal, five times a year.