Being fat could save your life in a car accident

Being overweight can be useful if you have a car accident. A few extra pounds can help, particularly if you are a man. Men who are overweight are more likely to come out of a serious road traffic accident alive than somebody who is very thin or obesely overweight.

Extra fat cushions the body which can literally save people's lives during a car accident. This fat may decrease in men with medical problems like cardiovascular disease and high blood-pressure, as many people lose weight to avoid conditions worsening or developing.

Women don't get the same protection from extra weight, however, and statistics show that being fat or thin doesn't affect their chances of a car accident fatality.

Body Mass Index (BMI) and car accident rates
Data analysts considering death rates and body mass indexes (BMI) of car accident victims for the American Journal of Public Health have made links between weight and car accident fatality rates.

Body weight affecting fatality rates may have something to do with the physics of car accidents and the way fat appears on the body. Male drivers with a BMI above 35 or lower than 22 had a "significantly increased risk of death" compared to those with an intermediate body mass index. Men are more likely to die if they are obese.

Overweight men look like apples with weight around their bellies and overweight women like pears with fat around their hips and buttocks. These weight patterns may simply provide more weight protection for men in the event of a vehicle accident.

The idea that being fat can protect you in a car accident sheds new light on the issue, as links have been made between weight and car accident fatality rates in the past and the RAC has reported that overweight drivers are more than twice as likely to be killed or seriously injured in car accidents than thinner people.

They also believe that cars should be specially designed for drivers to make them more aware of risks, saying that overweight people are more at risk because they may be more likely to fall asleep at the wheel and are more difficult to rescue from a car accident.

Fat can trigger high blood pressure by making blood vessels narrow in several ways. High blood pressure in turn can cause medical problems and fatalities at the wheel.

Studies of car accidents in New Zealand reveal that an overweight driver is twice as likely to be injured in a car accident as somebody of average size.

Car manufacturers have built safety features in new cars to compensate for hazards facing overweight passengers. In the USA, car manufacturers have already changed seat specifications and the size of airbags to accommodate larger passengers.