With over 30,000 traffic fatalities a year, motor vehicle crashes are one of the most common causes of death in the United States, with a number of factors contributing to the risk of accident, such as driver behavior, driver skill, and vehicle design, among others. These factors also affect a person’s chances of surviving a car crash, and a new study shows just how they affect crash survival rates.
Uzay Kirbiyik, doctoral student in epidemiology at the Indiana University Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, conducted a study to find out which risk factors have the biggest impact on a driver’s chances to survive a head-on collision. He used data from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) to analyze risk factors in 1,108 collisions, and found that survival rates are higher for younger, male drivers, who drive bigger and heavier vehicles, and tend to use seatbelts. Furthermore, the results from the study indicate that newer vehicles, that have functioning airbags that deployed in the crash, also helped increase drivers’ chances of survival. In the 1,108 collisions that Kirbiyik analyzed, more women died in head-on collisions than men, which most likely has to do with the fact that men are usually larger and stronger, so they have a bigger chance of recovery after sustaining serious injury.
Kirbiyik explained that vehicle height and rigidity, in addition to weight, can also affect the number of traffic fatalities, comparing fatality rates between drivers of light trucks, SUVs, and cars. He says that people who drive automobiles are 17 times more likely to be killed in a collision, than those who drive light trucks, whereas drivers of SUVs are 9 times less likely to die in a crash than car drivers.
As far as drivers’ age and its impact on the risk of crash is concerned, the study confirmed one very well-known fact – younger drivers are more likely to get involved in a car accidents than other age groups. Kirbiyik says that 21 percent of the collisions involved drivers between 15 and 24 years of age, but the fatality rate for this age group was only 39 percent, which is lower than any other age group. This comes as a bit of a surprise, considering that car crashes are the leading cause of death for U.S. teens, but it is certainly due to the fact that younger people are healthier and stronger.
This study highlights young drivers involvement in collisions, and how they affect overall traffic safety, with the author saying that “An intervention that reduces the involvement of younger drivers will likely help reduce the death rate of other age groups.” Also, the results from the study suggest that putting more airbags in vehicles, along with regular use of seatbelts, has helped reduce the number of fatal car crashes. These facts can be used to raise public awareness about the importance of seatbelt use, and increase seatbelt use rates, especially among younger drivers.