Study: Obesity Increases Driver’s Risk Of Being In Car Accident

[ALS]

Men with body mass indexes greater than 30 were more likely to suffer facial, spinal, head and upper chest injuries in a collision than those with BMIs below 30.

Cbs Seattle - CBSLOCAL - August 7, 2012

A new study claims that obesity could not only increase a driver’s risk of being in a car accident, but also result in more severe injuries.

The study, conducted by Canadian scientists at the University of Laval and published in the Journal of Transportation Safety & Security, claimed that morbidly obese drivers may be at increased risk of a crash due to weight-related health complications.

Additionally, car designs that are less than sympathetic to larger frames could leave obese drivers in more critical condition following an accident.

“Poor car-to-person fit is thought to be the leading cause of the increased risk of injury and fatality in [car accidents] for [people] who are obese or overweight versus [people] who are normal weight,” a portion of the study published by the Ottawa Citizen read.... [Read More]

[WriConsult]

The conclusions seem pretty vague as to whether risk is elevated for people who are overweight, obese or morbidly obese. The 3 terms seem to be used almost synonymously in the article (a common trait, in my experience, among people who fall into none of these 3 categories), when in fact they are VERY different things:

- Overweight means a BMI between 25 and 30, and includes 1/3 of Americans. I won't deny it, myself included.
- Obese means a BMI over 30, and includes now includes another 1/3 of Americans.
- Morbidly obese means a BMI over 40, 100 pounds over ideal weight, or BMI over 35 and experiencing weight-related health problems.

I'm sure people who are merely overweight (but not obese) are well within the range for which cars are being designed -- at least since 2nd generation airbags came along after they got clued in that petite women might actually exist, and often ride in passenger seats.

I'm guessing that most cars sold here are also now designed around people in the simple obese (but not morbidly obese) category. They'd be idiots not to ignore this 1/3 of their market.

I'm also guessing that most cars are NOT designed around morbidly obese drivers and passengers, who constitute just 6% of Americans. My guess is that the thinking would be that the morbidly obese are already at such extreme health risk (hence the use of the word morbid in the definition) that tailoring safety systems to their specific needs might not make as much difference to their overall life expectancy as it would for lighter people.

[Traal]

What about automobile collisions not ruled to be accidents?