Greetings TRB Health and Transportation Subcommittee friends,

APHA’s Public Health Newswire featured a couple of posts on driver safety today.

To read these posts, scroll down this email or visit http://www.publichealthnewswire.org/

Have a good weekend,

Eloisa

From: noreply+feedproxy@google.com [mailto:noreply+feedproxy@google.com] On Behalf Of Public Health Newswire
Sent: Friday, October 21, 2011 11:07 AM
To: Eloisa Raynault
Subject: Public Health Newswire

Public Health Newswire

Female drivers at greater risk of injury, says new study

Posted: 21 Oct 2011 07:37 AM PDT

Female drivers experience greater vulnerabilities when involved in motor vehicle crashes, according to a new study published online yesterday in the American Journal of Public Health. Researchers say the lack of tailoring of safety designs toward women may be to blame. Using national crash data to determine the role of driver gender as a predictor of injury outcome when involved in a crash, researchers found that belted female drivers are more susceptible to injuries compared with belted male drivers when involved in a similar motor vehicle crash. They also found that belted female drivers exhibited a higher risk of chest and spine injuries compared with their male counterparts. The authors noted “a higher risk of lower extreme injuries reported for female drivers as a result of their relatively short stature, preferred seating posture and a combination of these factors yielding lower safety protection from the standard restraint devices.” “One reason safety systems are designed more for the male population is that men are three times more likely to be involved in a car crash that leads to serious or fatal injuries,” according to a story by ABC News. “In recent years, however, there has been an increase in female drivers getting [...]

Latino health disparities, teen driver safety, mortgage delinquency linked to depression, mercury ban

Posted: 21 Oct 2011 06:49 AM PDT

Lack of access to care leads to health disparties for Baltimore Latinos, a possible ban on mercury concerns scientists, plus findings from a new issue of the American Journal of Public Health are among the top public health news stories for Friday, Oct. 21, 2011.