What is the most dangerous sport?

[KenBurris]

I based my vote on the number of women I used to see at work sporting indications of injuries - and knowing in what sport they participated

[garymuto]

What about Hockey?

[gsmittle]

Ah.... so if it kills you you're not counted?

I'm thinkin' that would count as a major injury…

g.

[MilDoc]

Well, here are the top 15 most dangerous sports, compiled from ER statistics, by number of visits in 2008:

1. Basketball: 512,213
2. Bicycling: 485,669
3. Football: 418,260
4. Soccer: 174,686
5. Baseball: 155,898
6. Skateboards: 112,544
7. Trampolines: 108,029
8. Softball: 106,884
9. Swimming/Diving: 82,354
10. Horseback riding: 73,576
11. Weightlifting: 65,716
12. Volleyball: 52,091
13. Golf: 47,360
14. Roller skating: 35,003
15. Wrestling: 33,734

[Alex Franke]

Well, here are the top 15 most dangerous sports, compiled from ER statistics, by number of visits in 2008:

1. Basketball: 512,213
2. Bicycling: 485,669
3. Football: 418,260
4. ...

Yay!

I'm surprised there are still 35,000 roller skaters still out there! I guess maybe it includes in-line skating...

I didn't even think about cycling. That's a good one, too. Pretty darn fast, not a lot of protection, plus it seems like a lot of drivers out there don't believe that cyclists have a right to the road as well...

[dkerfoot]

Well, here are the top 15 most dangerous sports, compiled from ER statistics, by number of visits in 2008:

1. Basketball: 512,213
2. Bicycling: 485,669
3. Football: 418,260
4. Soccer: 174,686

Two thoughts come to mind that would affect the statistics. The idea of numbers of people participating has been discussed already. The other thought regards the level of medical insurance coverage for the respective participants. This does involve some blatant stereotyping, but that doesn't always mean it is wrong...

Can we assume for instance that a higher percentage of soccer players (in this country) are covered by insurance than basketball players? If so, that might affect the likely hood of going to the ER, rather than a visit to the family doctor for persistent ankle swelling, etc...

Then of course, there is the possibility of falsely blaming a sport for injuries suffered during misadventure. I can think of a couple of times in my own youth when I got hurt doing things I knew I was not supposed to do, so I blamed it on something I was allowed to do...