In the mid-90s, the holiday song "Grown-Up Christmas List" hit radio stations, and its lyrics were painfully close to too many homes. Within each verse were wishes for peace, friendship, forgiveness and justice. Presents under the tree seem trivial when we stop to think about painful losses.
My "Grown-Up Christmas List" is all about eliminating "accidents." Each year more than 130,000 deaths are due to unintentional injuries. Now the fourth leading cause of death in the U.S., unintentional injuries kill more people than strokes, Alzheimer's disease, diabetes, homicide and suicide.
So here are some things I'm wishing for this year:
I wish for an end to prescription drug abuse
For the first time since WWII, something other than car crashes is the leading cause of injury death for American adults. Drug overdoses are at an all-time high, and prescription opioids account for more than 18,000 of these deaths - more than heroin and cocaine combined. That's 18,000 families ripped apart because of medicines that actually are less effective at treating pain than over-the-counter pain relievers like acetaminophen and ibuprofen.
This year, I hope Americans say enough is enough and take steps to correct this problem. We need laws that give us better access to affordable treatment, as well as naloxone, an overdose antidote. We also need our doctors to prescribe these highly addictive medicines conservatively and offer us alternatives.
And we must advocate for our own safety. If we have to take opioids, we should take the smallest dose for the shortest amount of time possible, and we should never share these medicines. Three out of four people who abuse prescription opioids get the drugs from friends or family.
I wish for an end to traffic deaths
Car crashes are the second leading cause of unintentional death in the U.S., and the No. 1 cause of death for teens. Our cars are safer than ever before but still, more than 35,000 people are killed each year on our roadways, and preliminary National Safety Council estimates indicate we are on pace for a particularly deadly year. For the Christmas and New Year's holiday weekends, the Council is estimating another 653 traffic deaths nationwide.
Saving lives can be as simple as buckling a seat belt, putting down a cell phone, getting enough sleep, designating a non-drinking, sober driver and helping teens become more experienced behind the wheel. These small steps can be the difference between life and death.
I wish we focused more on the things we can prevent
When we really think about it, most of the things we worry about or fear never actually happen. The same is true for our safety. Many Americans worry about things that make headlines, like plane crashes, hurricanes and earthquakes. In reality, we are far more likely to be killed by the things we do every day.
Car crashes, for example, are alarmingly common. The lifetime odds of being killed on the roads are 1 in 112; the odds of dying in a plane crash* are 1 in 96,566. Essentially, we are more likely to be killed on our drive to the airport than on our actual flight.
The lifetime odds of dying in an earthquake are 1 in 179,965, while the odds of being fatally struck by lightning are 1 in 164,968. But the odds of overdosing on a prescription painkiller? One in 234. The odds of dying from a fall? Even more troubling - 1 in 144.
Getting to zero in 2016
Now that the holiday shopping is finished and the presents are wrapped, take a moment to make yourself a safety wish list. Think about the things you do every day. How could you be safer? What New Year's resolutions can you make that will help protect you from the fourth leading cause of death?
If we all work together, we can make our world safer in 2016.
•Deborah A.P. Hersman is president and CEO of the National Safety Council and the former chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board.
* NSC Injury Facts 2015 defines "commercial airplane crashes" as those involving large airlines, commuter airlines and on-demand air taxis.