# What would you WANT the #1 cause of deaths for 15 to 24 year olds to be? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 12, 2013, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-want-the-1-cause-of-deaths-for-15-to-24-year-olds-to-be/652670 "2013-03-12T00:53:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2013, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-want-the-1-cause-of-deaths-for-15-to-24-year-olds-to-be/652670/1 "2013-03-12T00:53:21Z")
There’s a story going 'round various news sites right now about 8 teenagers in Ohio who flipped over into a pond, 6 of them died. [In the CNN story there is this line:](http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/11/us/ohio-deadly-crash/index.html?hpt=hp_t1) > [@](#): > > About a quarter of 15- to 24-year-olds who died in 2010 were killed in motor vehicle accidents, according to the most recent numbers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. My immediate reaction was something along the lines of oh-that’s-terrible-we-must-do-something-won’t-somebody-PLEASE-think-of-the-children-OMG! . . . but the very next line in the paragraph is: > [@](#): > > The motor vehicle deaths significantly outpaced the other top culprits: firearm wounds, homicides, suicides and accidental poisonings. Now, I’m thinking . . . uh, car accident fatalities for young people are tragic and we should work to bring the number down but . . . _percentage-wise_, I think I’m o.k. with it being the #1 cause of death for that age bracket. After all, old age is not an option for cause of death for 15 to 24 year olds. A quarter of deaths are caused by car accident compared to . . . a quarter of deaths are caused by firearm wounds? . . . a quarter of deaths are caused by homicides? . . . a quarter of deaths are caused by suicides? . . . a quarter of deaths are caused by accidental poisonings? Yeah, for this age group, car accidents as the #1 cause of death is the least disturbing option I can think of. Well, least disturbing with numbers as high as they are (not that I know what the numbers are). If the #1 cause of death for 15 to 24 year olds was disease . . . then I’d hope the overall numbers of deaths were very low, otherwise _why do we have all these young people dying of disease?_ ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2013, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-want-the-1-cause-of-deaths-for-15-to-24-year-olds-to-be/652670/2 "2013-03-12T01:08:48Z")
Dinosaur attack. ---
**Author:** ![April\_R](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@April\_R](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/April_R)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2013, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-want-the-1-cause-of-deaths-for-15-to-24-year-olds-to-be/652670/3 "2013-03-12T01:11:25Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > Dinosaur attack. And done in one I really LOL’d ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2013, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-want-the-1-cause-of-deaths-for-15-to-24-year-olds-to-be/652670/4 "2013-03-12T01:13:49Z")
Backtalk. ---
**Author:** ![RyanLizard69](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b38774/32.png) [@RyanLizard69](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RyanLizard69)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2013, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-want-the-1-cause-of-deaths-for-15-to-24-year-olds-to-be/652670/5 "2013-03-12T01:16:00Z")
Kamikaze Chip-monk with a giant penis climbs into there rooms at night and humps them till their heads explode… ---
**Author:** ![Arrendajo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Arrendajo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arrendajo)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2013, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-want-the-1-cause-of-deaths-for-15-to-24-year-olds-to-be/652670/6 "2013-03-12T01:16:27Z")
Natural causes. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2013, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-want-the-1-cause-of-deaths-for-15-to-24-year-olds-to-be/652670/7 "2013-03-12T01:20:25Z")
Embarrassment (It’s credible, if you’ll recall) ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2013, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-want-the-1-cause-of-deaths-for-15-to-24-year-olds-to-be/652670/8 "2013-03-12T01:21:04Z")
Vampires. Serve the little bastards right after inflicting four _Twilight_ books and five movies on us. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2013, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-want-the-1-cause-of-deaths-for-15-to-24-year-olds-to-be/652670/9 "2013-03-12T01:26:24Z")
“Carousel”. Why should those poor kids have to wait until they’re 30 for Renewal? ---
**Author:** ![MacTech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MacTech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacTech)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2013, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-want-the-1-cause-of-deaths-for-15-to-24-year-olds-to-be/652670/10 "2013-03-12T01:29:01Z")
Combining the two best responses… Vampire Dinosaurs (band name!) ---
**Author:** ![ducati](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/cc9497/32.png) [@ducati](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ducati)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2013, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-want-the-1-cause-of-deaths-for-15-to-24-year-olds-to-be/652670/11 "2013-03-12T01:45:09Z")
Snoo Snoo. With me. Well, not the guys. ---
**Author:** ![Nunzio\_Tavulari](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Nunzio\_Tavulari](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nunzio_Tavulari)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2013, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-want-the-1-cause-of-deaths-for-15-to-24-year-olds-to-be/652670/12 "2013-03-12T02:35:01Z")
Exhaustion after a seventeen hour orgy. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2013, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-want-the-1-cause-of-deaths-for-15-to-24-year-olds-to-be/652670/13 "2013-03-12T03:43:59Z")
Turning into a blueberry after chewing gum? ---
**Author:** ![gonzoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a6a055/32.png) [@gonzoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzoron)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2013, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-want-the-1-cause-of-deaths-for-15-to-24-year-olds-to-be/652670/14 "2013-03-12T04:26:46Z")
Hunger Games ---
**Author:** ![Beastly\_Rotter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/45deac/32.png) [@Beastly\_Rotter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beastly_Rotter)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2013, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-want-the-1-cause-of-deaths-for-15-to-24-year-olds-to-be/652670/15 "2013-03-12T04:56:47Z")
Ninjas. ---
**Author:** ![psychobunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/54ee81/32.png) [@psychobunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychobunny)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2013, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-want-the-1-cause-of-deaths-for-15-to-24-year-olds-to-be/652670/16 "2013-03-12T05:15:40Z")
Where do Zombies rank? ---
**Author:** ![Recusant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/838e76/32.png) [@Recusant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Recusant)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2013, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-want-the-1-cause-of-deaths-for-15-to-24-year-olds-to-be/652670/17 "2013-03-12T05:17:39Z")
Snowboarding lightsaber duels. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2013, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-want-the-1-cause-of-deaths-for-15-to-24-year-olds-to-be/652670/18 "2013-03-12T07:03:19Z")
Old age (eventually). ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2013, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-want-the-1-cause-of-deaths-for-15-to-24-year-olds-to-be/652670/19 "2013-03-12T07:05:59Z")
My disapproving fist of justice ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2013, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-want-the-1-cause-of-deaths-for-15-to-24-year-olds-to-be/652670/20 "2013-03-12T07:25:50Z")
Seriously speaking, something more or less unpreventable like say cancer. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-you-want-the-1-cause-of-deaths-for-15-to-24-year-olds-to-be/652670.md?page=2)