24 August 2010

Leading cause of death for American tourists is a surprise

Take your pick of the leading cause of death for Americans traveling abroad: (1) terrorism; (2) airplane crashes or; (3) vehicle crashes.

To the surprise of some, the answer is 3.

"In addition to the almost 40,000 Americans who die each year on the roads in the US, more die in traffic internationally than from any other circumstances," says the Los Angeles Times.

They quote the US State Department which keeps track of these matters, which showed "a sobering list of 881 unnamed expats, tourists, business travelers and others done in by traffic accident, homicide, drowning, suicide and other means," the paper said.

The most common cause of death was vehicle accidents, which killed at least 252 Americans abroad last year. Some victims were in buses, some in cars, some on motorcycles, and some struck by vehicles while they were on foot.

"Before we go further, remember: These people are a tiny fraction of the many Americans who live abroad and the millions who travel internationally every year," notes the Times.

Still, there are plenty of lessons here, beginning with this one: Be careful on the road.
Another: Be careful in Mexico.

Mexico by far tallied the highest total of any country on the list, with 230 deaths — not surprising since the country sits next door to the US, hosts tens of thousands of expats, attracts 19 million or more American visitors yearly (so says the US Department of Commerce) and has been effectively at war with multiple drug gangs since December 2006.

Remarkably, only 19 American deaths were counted in Canada, which gets 12 million or more American visitors per year. That total included seven vehicle accidents, four suicides and three drownings. Homicides: none.

By David Wilkening