Overweight Motorists In More Danger

Airbags that are fitted in most cars are specially designed for thin people...

Practically every week we come across another obesity statistic that warns of the dangers of being obese or overweight and at Ukmedix News we make it a point of getting the facts over to you. We feel that the more that people realise how harmful to health it is being overweight or obese the bigger the chances of them dieting, exercising and losing weight. Most of the research we come across deals with obesity related illnesses and disease but this latest warning is of a completely different kind.

Apparently being overweight means that you have a much higher statistical chance of dying or being seriously injured if you are involved in a car accident and not only that but you are also more likely to have a motor crash in the first place. According to the RAC, car drivers who are overweight have double the chance of being seriously hurt or killed in a crash than normal weight people.

The RAC also said that overweight drivers are much more likely to suffer from sleep problems and therefore are statistically more likely to doze off when driving which is major cause of serious road accidents. They also noted that safety belts and airbags that are fitted in most cars are specially designed for average weight people and not for overweight or obese people.

Safety belts can stop people from flying through the front windscreen but the heavier a driver is, the more injury the safety belt will do to them in the process. It must also be noted that overweight people are much more difficult to physically remove from a crumpled and damaged car than a normal weight person especially if they are unconscious and thus they could be in more danger. Overweight people are also likely to suffer negatively from other things like high blood pressure and heart disease that all contribute to a lower statistical chance of surviving an accident.