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Safety Group Charts Odds Of Dying To Promote Better Choices

CHICAGO (CBS) -- Safety experts have published a list of things most likely to kill you as part of National Safety Month.

The National Safety Council's "Odds of Dying" chart shows the most likely thing to kill a person is heart disease or cancer.

As for dangerous activities, the group said Americans are far more likely to be killed by things they do every day. The odds of dying in a car crash are 1 in 112, compared to 1 in 96,566 for dying in a commercial plane crash. The odds are 1 in 144 for being killed in a fall, compared to 1 in 6,780 for dying in a cataclysmic storm.

The National Safety Council said the odds of dying from an overdose of prescription painkillers are 1 in 234. The Itasca-based group has produced a video on that subject, focusing on the death of Medinah resident Louie Miceli, who overdosed on heroin at age 24.

Miceli suffered knee and shoulder injuries playing football, and wanted to keep playing, so took prescription painkillers to stay on the field, and ended up becoming addicted to heroin.

"Louie's drug problem did not become severe until the summer of his senior year, where it progressed to taking opiates, due to sports injuries. They were overprescribed, and readily available," his mother Felicia said. "Most parents think that will never happen to me, but it can happen to anyone."

The NSC said knowing the odds of dying can empower people to make better choices.

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