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April 01, 2006
OBESITY 'RAISES CRASH DEATH RISK'
Male drivers who are involved in a car crash are more likely to die if they are obese, a US study reportedly has found. “The team from the Injury Research Centre of the Medical College of Wisconsin looked at information on 22,000 people from a nationwide crash data collection program sponsored by the US Department of Transportation.
The fatality rate for motor vehicle crashes was 0.87% for male drivers and 0.43% for women drivers,” according to a BBC report. The team found that male drivers who had a body mass index that was either higher than 35 or lower than 22 had a "significantly increased risk of death" compared to those with an intermediate body mass index (BMI), BBC said.
The team argues that its research highlights another major health risk associated with obesity among men and may help the identification of high-risk drivers.
They also argue it could have implications for traffic safety policy and motor vehicle design. A spokesman for the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents said the research was interesting. "However, it would be a very costly process to have a car modeled on the person's shape to make it as safe as possible - that's really a bespoke car and would take a lot of money and effort to produce," he said.
Posted by MVHAP at April 1, 2006 04:03 PM