Obese drivers more likely to die in road accidents

[Jenna]

They suggest the most obese drivers are 80% more likely to die in a car crash than their normal weight counterparts, with obese women at much higher risk than obese men.

For their study, Rice and Zhu analyzed figures from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS). This database, which is kept by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, records all road deaths arising within 30 days of a traffic collision.

The study covered the period 1996 to 2008, during which the database recorded nearly 57,500 road traffic collisions.

An interesting result was that underweight male drivers (BMI under 18.5) were also more likely to die in a car crash than their normal weight counterparts.

In trying to explain these results, Rice and Zhu note that other studies have found the lower body of heavier drivers travels further forward in a crash before the seatbelt engages the pelvis, while the upper body is held back. This is because the frame of the obese driver has more padding or abdominal fat, which increases the time it takes for the belt to tighten on impact.

Another reason for obese drivers having a greater risk of death, could be because they are more likely to have underlying health problems.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/255196.php

[Jks9199]

Gee... It couldn't be something like, oh, the extremely obese and the extremely underweight are both outside the parameters that the car is designed to protect, could it?

They build cars around a standard range of sizes. They design them to protect occupants in that range, and they test with dummies in that range. Of course someone outside of that range is more likely to be injured. I bet if they dug hard and compared heights, extremely tall and and extremely short people are more likely to be injured, too.

[IMGreat101]

I ordered my truck in size 38 Long.