Bedford Driving Lessons

Obese people suffer an increased risk of dying in severe car crashes, new research has suggested. The study by the University of Buffalo School of Medicine and Biomedical Services found that a moderately obese driver has a 21% increased risk of death if involved in a severe accident, while for a morbidly obese driver this was elevated to a 56% increased risk of fatality. However, the study, which is to be published in the American Journal of Emergency Medicine, also found that drivers who are underweight or of normal weight are also more likely to die than those who are slightly overweight. It analysed data from more than 150,000 appropriate crashes contained in the database of the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), seeking to establish whether there was any relationship between the driver’s body size and the likelihood of death. Using BMI (body mass index) statistics, the study grouped drivers into six weight categories. In addition to the overall findings, the research noted that, when broken down by gender, the two heaviest categories – moderately obese and morbidly obese – still showed statistically significant increases in the likelihood of fatality, in comparison to drivers of a normal weight. More