Automobile Safety News from the Medical Profession
2009 May 25
This Blog attempts to cover automobile safety from a variety of angles. It is common for discussion on this Blog to cover safety advances, safety failures, actual accidents occurring on a daily basis and lawsuits regarding automobile safety. I have recently stumbled upon some medical literature regarding automobile safety and hope to be able to include more articles regarding the mechanism of automobile accident injuries and how to prevent them.
Fewer Facial Injuries in Car Crashes from MedPageToday.com:
As airbags and other safety features have improved, facial injuries in car crashes declined over a 12-year period, researchers found. But wearing a seatbelt still has the most protective effect, and airbags have little effect on injuries if seatbelts aren’t worn, Brian T. McMullin, M.D., of the Medical College of Wisconsin, and colleagues reported in the May/June Archives of Facial Plastic Surgery. Seatbelts, along with front airbag use, were associated with a significantly decreased likelihood of facial fracture (OR 0.14, 95% CI 0.09 to 0.22). But airbags alone were not associated with reduced chance of facial fracture injury (OR 0.78, 95% CI 0.58 to 1.06, P=0.11). “Restraint use continues to be the most significant element for facial and skull base injury prevention,” the researchers said
Seatbelts and Pregnancy from MedPageToday.com:
Mothers-to-be should buckle up without worrying about harming their babies, researchers say. Wearing a seatbelt reduces the chance of fetal complications during a car crash, Stacie Zelman, M.D., of Wake Forest University, and colleagues said at the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine meeting in New Orleans. Having both an airbag and a seatbelt provided the most protection against fetal loss or complications. Only 3.8% of women who had both during an accident experienced these problems, compared to 8.4 percent of those who had neither protection, the researchers reported.
There are many other similar articles at MedPageToday.com. I have linked to some that I find interesting below.
SUVs Compared to Cars for Kid Safety
