Ann M. Dellinger

DRIVING CESSATION: WHAT OLDER FORMER DRIVERS TELL US

OBJECTIVES: To understand why older drivers living in a community setting stop driving.

Incidence and Total Lifetime Costs of Motor Vehicle–Related Fatal and Nonfatal Injury by Road User Type, United States, 2005

Objectives: To estimate the costs of motor vehicle–related fatal and nonfatal injuries in the United States in terms of medical care and lost productivity by road user type. Methods: Incidence and cost data for 2005 were derived from several data sources. Unit costs were calculated for medical spending and productivity losses for fatal and nonfatal injuries, and unit costs were multiplied by incidence to yield total costs. Injury incidence and costs are presented by age, sex, and road user type. Results: Motor vehicle–related fatal and nonfatal injury costs exceeded

Unsafe motor vehicle practices among substance-using college students.

99 billion. Costs associated with motor vehicle occupant fatal and nonfatal injuries accounted for 71 percent (

Lessons from the past

70 billion) of all motor vehicle–related costs, followed by costs associated with motorcyclists (

Cyclists injured while sharing the road with motor vehicles

12 billion), pedestrians (

Unintentional childhood injuries in the United States: key findings from the CDC childhood injury report.

10 billion), and pedalcyclists (

Young driver involvement in fatal motor vehicle crashes and trends in risk behaviors, United States, 1988–95

5 billion). Conclusions: The substantial economic and societal costs associated with these injuries and deaths reinforce the need to implement evidence-based, cost-effective strategies. Evidence-based strategies that target increasing seat belt use, increasing child safety seat use, increasing motorcyclist and pedalcyclist helmet use, and decreasing alcohol-impaired driving are available.

Bicycle helmet use among children in the United States: The effects of legislation, personal and household factors

This study examines the relationship between substance use and behaviors that increase the risk for motor vehicle crashes and crash-related injuries. The investigation uses National College Health Risk Behavior Survey data collected in 1995 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. These data are representative of 2- and 4-year undergraduate college students in private and public colleges and universities in the United States. Smokers, episodic heavy drinkers, marijuana users and users of illegal drugs in combination with alcohol were significantly more likely to drive after drinking alcohol and ride with a driver who had been drinking alcohol and significantly less likely to wear safety belts while driving or while riding in a car as a passenger. This study indicates that college students who are substance users are more likely to behave in a manner which increases their risk for motor vehicle crashes and motor vehicle crash injuries.

A comparison of driver- and passenger-based estimates of alcohol-impaired driving

The National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) recently announced that poisoning had passed motor vehicle (MV) crashes as the leading cause of injury death in the USA in 2008.1 The NCHS also noted that nearly 90% of poisoning deaths were due to drugs, which have driven the overall poisoning mortality increase since at least 1980. Much of the increase in drug poisoning mortality was due to prescription drugs, especially opioid painkillers. Similar trends related to prescription opioids have been noted in other developed countries.2 3 Preliminary mortality data from 2009 suggest an additional large decline in MV crash deaths,4 5 while emergency department data suggest a continued increase in prescription drug overdoses in 2009.6 It is likely that drug poisoning alone now causes more deaths than MV crashes in the USA. These reported and anticipated changes represent a major milestone in injury prevention. A hundred years ago, falls were the leading mechanism of injury death in the USA.7 Beginning around 1910, MV …

Restraint use and seating position among children less than 13 years of age: Is it still a problem?

Objective: To provide national estimates of non-fatal cyclist injuries treated in US hospital emergency departments (EDs) resulting from an encounter with a motor vehicle (MV) on the road. Methods: Non-fatal injury data for 2001–4 from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System All Injury Program were analyzed. Results: An estimated 62 267 persons (21.5 per 100 000 population; 95% CI 14.3 to 28.7) were treated annually in US hospital EDs for unintentional non-fatal cyclist injuries involving an MV on the road. Among these cases, children aged 10–14 years (65.8 per 100 000) and males (35.3 per 100 000) had the highest injury rates. Many injuries involved the extremities (41.9%). The head was the primary body part affected for 38.6% of hospitalized/transferred patients, of which about 84.7% had a principal diagnosis of a concussion or internal head injury. Conclusions: Effective road environmental interventions (eg, bicycle-friendly roadway design, intersections and crossings) along with efforts to promote safe personal behavior (eg, helmet use and following rules of the road) are needed to help reduce injuries among cyclists while sharing the road.