A recent WHO report on inadequate road safety opened with some
stark figures: 1.2 million deaths and up to 50 million nonfatal
injuries occur every year on the world's roads. In keeping with the
aim of PLoS Medicine to prioritize studies that consider all
factors that contribute substantially to morbidity and mortality
worldwide, this month PLoS Medicine publishes research and magazine
articles focusing on this topic. In an accompanying editorial, the
PLoS Medicine editors call for better data to support policy
changes that could reduce the global burden of death and injury
that results from road traffic crashes.
In a research article published this week, Shankuan Zhu and
colleagues, from the Medical College of Wisconsin, use computer
crash simulations, as well as real-world data, to evaluate whether
driver obesity is associated with greater risk of body injury in
motor vehicle crashes. The authors conclude, "Obese men endured a
much higher risk of injury to upper body regions during motor
vehicle crashes. This higher risk might be attributed to
differences in body shape, fat distribution, and center of gravity
between obese and normal-weight subjects, and between men and
women."
In the PLoS Medicine Magazine section, Aymery Constant
and Emmanuel Lagarde discuss policies to protect pedestrians,
bicyclists and motorcyclists, from injury. The authors, from
INSERM, Bordeaux, remind us "that half of the 1.2 million
fatalities occurring each year on the world's roads concern
vulnerable road users" and that many countermeasures still need to
be enacted to prevent injury to this group. The authors argue that
"only a multipronged approach will be successful — combining
passive and active devices with regulations, enforcement, and
awareness campaigns."
In an accompanying editorial, "Preventing Road Deaths - Time for
Data", the PLoS Medicine Editors' stress the impact of
inadequate road safety on global health, in both developed and low-
and middle-income countries. The editors' comment that "research
into the risk factors for injury from road traffic crashes,
analyses of attitudes to road safety, evaluation of projects aiming
to improve road safety, and alternatives to motor vehicle travel
are all areas where medical researchers, statisticians, and public
health professionals can contribute vital information in support of
life-saving policies."
BMI and Risk of Serious Upper Body Injury Following Motor
Vehicle Crashes: Concordance of Real-World and Computer-Simulated
Observations by Zhu et al.
Citation: Zhu S, Kim J-E, Ma X, Shih A, Laud PW, et al. (2010)
BMI and Risk of Serious Upper Body Injury Following Motor Vehicle
Crashes: Concordance of Real-World and Computer-Simulated
Observations. PLoS Med 7(3): e1000250.
doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1000250
Funding: This study was supported by a grant from the National
Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering of the National
Institutes of Health (grant R01EB006552-01A1, Obesity-Related
Variables and Motor Vehicle Injury). The funders had no role in
study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or
preparation of the manuscript.
Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing
interests exist.
IN YOUR COVERAGE PLEASE USE THIS URL TO PROVIDE ACCESS TO THE
FREELY AVAILABLE PAPER:
http://www.plosmedicine.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pmed.1000250
PRESS-ONLY PREVIEW OF THE ARTICLE: www.plos.org/press/plme-07-03-zhu.pdf
CONTACT:
Shankuan Zhu
Medical College of Wisconsin
Injury Research Center
8701 Watertown Plank Road
Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53226
United States of America
(414) 456 7674
(414) 456 6470 (fax)
szhu@mcw.edu
Protecting Vulnerable Road Users from Injury by Constant and
Lagarde.
Citation: Constant A, Lagarde E (2010) Protecting Vulnerable
Road Users from Injury. PLoS Med 7(3):
e1000228.doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1000228
Funding: This work was supported by the French National
Institute for Medical research (INSERM). The funder played no role
in the decision to submit the article nor in its preparation.
Competing Interests: Emmanuel Lagarde is on the Editorial Board
of PLoS Medicine.
IN YOUR COVERAGE PLEASE USE THIS URL TO PROVIDE ACCESS TO THE
FREELY AVAILABLE PAPER:
http://www.plosmedicine.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pmed.1000228
PRESS-ONLY PREVIEW OF THE ARTICLE: www.plos.org/press/plme-07-03-lagarde.pdf
CONTACT:
Emmanuel Lagarde
Research Center INSERM U897 "Epidémiologie et
Biostatistiques"
Injury prevention and control team
Université Victor Segalen Bordeaux 2, Case 11
146 rue Léo Saignat
Bordeaux, Gironde 33076
France
+33557571504
emmanuel.lagarde@isped.u-bordeaux2.fr
Preventing Road Deaths - Time for Data by the PLoS
Medicine editors
Citation: The PLoS Medicine Editors (2010) Preventing
Road Deaths—Time for Data. PLoS Med 7(3):
e1000257.doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1000257
Funding: The authors are each paid a salary by the Public
Library of Science, and they wrote this editorial during their
salaried time.
Competing Interests: The authors' individual competing interests
are at http://www.plosmedicine.org/static/editorsInterests.action.
PLoS is funded partly through manuscript publication charges, but
the PLoS Medicine Editors are paid a fixed salary (their salary is
not linked to the number of papers published in the journal).
IN YOUR COVERAGE PLEASE USE THIS URL TO PROVIDE ACCESS TO THE
FREELY AVAILABLE PAPER:
http://www.plosmedicine.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pmed.1000257
PRESS-ONLY PREVIEW OF THE ARTICLE: www.plos.org/press/plme-07-03-editorial.pdf
CONTACT:
medicine_editors@plos.org
SOURCE