At lunch time on Monday, I had to go into town to the bank as a matter of urgency, sister in a bit of a financial pickle, & on the way, I found the road blocked off by police. Automatically thought that there had been a road accident.

On reaching the bank, that road was closed off & behind the police vehicle was a fire engine, yep, I thought, another speeder causing an accident. Went about my business without giving it another thought.

On going online to my local paper to update my advertisement, I was surprised. It wasn't a road accident.

A lovely woman had gone to the top tier of the central car park & threw herself off. Until reading that, I hadn't given it much thought since my days on the trains.

Back then, especially during that tremendously hot year of 1976, we had no end of suicides. After logging off & thinking about it, I realised that one never hears or sees much about this during cold weather. It's mainly during summer or excessive heatwaves. It was the same on the roads. The amount of fatal accidents I witnessed while a lorry driver during spring/summer months were unbelievable.

I just wonder what it is about heat that makes us irrational? Is it the same in the rest of the world?

Personally, I just think it is a sad waste of life. I've been in circumstances where I often felt like tearing my hair out but always realised that with patience & perserverance, things balance themselves out.

When depression gets into your head then its amazing what you are capable of, I was depressed for a long time after my mother died and thought about jumping off a building many a time but I didnt and now I am here to annoy you guys

Interesting...being from Canada I see things a bit differently. I don't know about suicides, never really hear about many of them, summer or winter, but I think if you checked you'd find there are more suicides in the winter months. Less sunlight has been known to contribute to depression. Overall though there are far more deaths caused worldwide by cold weather than by hot, I don't think anyone could argue that. Many people die every year in Canada and other countries from exposure to the cold. It's why I think a little global warming would be a good thing...at least here.


Here's a few samples of information I gathered for a website I was considering.

http://washparkprophet.blogspot.com/200 ... chive.html
There are still adults who die in the United States of exposure to the elements. In 2003, 620 died from exposure to cold, many of whom were vagrants. Many, and probably most, of the 273 people a year who die from heat in heat waves are the frail, poor and elderly.
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http://www.kidsource.com/safety/winter.safety.cold.html
The Problem: Who Is Affected?

Many injuries occur each winter as people try to keep their homes warm and get around in cold, stormy weather. Home Fires December, January, and February are the leading months for home fires and associated deaths in the United States. About one-third of the 3,250 home-fire deaths in 1998 occurred during these three months. Heating equipment is the second leading cause of home-fire deaths in the U.S. and the leading cause during December and January. Hypothermia Each year, more than 700 people die of hypothermia (low body temperature) caused by extended exposure to cold temperatures both indoors and out. About half of these deaths are among persons age 65 and older; men in this age group are more likely than women to die from hypothermia. Risk factors for hypothermia include older age; alcohol abuse; homelessness; poverty; mental illness; chronic diseases such as hypothyroidism; dehydration and malnutrition; and prolonged exposure to materials that promote heat loss (e.g., water, metal).

Carbon Monoxide Poisoning

Each year, more than 200 Americans die from carbon monoxide poisoning. (CO is produced by fuel-burning motor vehicles, appliances, and heating systems.) In addition, several thousand individuals are treated in emergency departments for CO poisoning. The risk of CO poisoning increases during the winter, as more people run furnaces and space heaters and use fireplaces. Deaths from CO poisoning also occur when people sit in an idling vehicle with the doors and windows closed. One CDC study found that motor-vehicle-related CO poisoning exposures increase during winter months and that death rates from CO poisoning in stationary motor vehicles are highest in states with colder average winter temperatures. During just two days in January 1996, 22 people in New York City died from CO poisoning because their exhaust pipes were packed with snow, and CO backed up into the vehicle.

Driving-Related Injuries and Deaths

In 1998, 131,000 motor vehicle crashes occurred during sleet and snowy conditions. Of these crashes, 30,000 resulted in injuries; more than 600 resulted in deaths.
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http://www.ageconcern.org.uk/AgeConcern ... deaths.asp
Thousands of older people die each year from cold-related illnesses in the winter months. In only six years more than 150,000 over 65s died.

Snow blowers (or snow throwers) are the fourth leading cause of finger amputations associated with consumer products. These machines cause more than 5,300 emergency department visits and 1,000 amputations each year. Nine deaths related to snow blowers have been reported since 1992.

Edit: BTW...it's 9 degrees C right now here and expected to climb to a balmy 13 with cloud and rain. It's been like this for a couple weeks now...last month we had snow.

Thanks for the stats Kalu. Until one looks into situations like that, you never realise just how much happens in the world.