Youth Indicators 1996 / Indicator 51, Chart 1
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Vital Statistics of the United States, Volume II-Mortality, Part A, various years and Monthly Vital Statistics vol. 43, no. 6, Supplement, 1995 (corrected).
Deaths of persons 15 to 24 years old have been largely attributable to behavioral causes. Since 1960, motor vehicle accidents have been by far the leading cause of death, followed by other accidents, homicides and suicides. However, during the late 1980s and early 1990s a rapid rise in the homicide rates and continuing drop in the motor vehicle deaths brought the two rates relatively close together. For young black males the homicide rate has increased dramatically in recent years, from 66 per 100,000 in 1985 to 154 per 100,000 in 1992. Meanwhile, the death rates from diseases, such as cancer, heart disease, and pneumonia have shown some declines.
