Health News

How to Walk Away From a Car Accident

March 16, 2000 (Atlanta) -- It's stating the obvious to say that people involved in car crashes not only want to survive the accident, but walk away from it, too.

But, according to statistics from the National Spinal Cord Injury Database, since 1991, motor vehicle crashes have accounted for about 36% of all new spinal cord injuries in the U.S., and car wrecks remain the No. 1 cause of spinal injury.

A new study from the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center shows that using a seatbelt in combination with an airbag can significantly decrease the risk of spinal injury in an auto accident.

"There appears to be a 35-42% reduction in the probability that you would sustain a spinal injury when you're wearing both a seatbelt and have an airbag," lead author Michael A. Catino, MD, tells WebMD. Catino presented his study this week at a meeting of the American Association of Orthopaedic Surgeons in Orlando, Fla.

Catino's study contained nearly 7,200 people who were admitted to Pennsylvania trauma centers with spinal injuries after a car accident from 1990 to 1997. The accident injuries were put into four categories: use of air bags only, seat belts only, seat belts and air bags, and no protective devices.

Using the seat belts and air bags category as the baseline, Catino and colleagues found the incidence of spinal injury in an auto accident is 35% greater if only an air bag is deployed, 37% greater if no protective device was used, and 42% greater if only a seat belt is used.

The disparity in the numbers, Catino says, could in part come from the fact that the sample sizes of each group were vastly different. "It's a small study," he tells WebMD. "But, on the flipside, could you make an argument that the seatbelt or the shoulder restraint [alone] makes injury to the cervical spine more common? I mean it's certainly possible." However, Catino says he can't claim that his study has definitively shown that and more investigation is needed.

"All we're able to show is that with the use of both devices, there appears to be a decreased risk of sustaining a spinal injury compared to the other protective devices used alone," Catino says.

Catino emphasizes that using both a seat belt and an airbag are not the only precautions to follow. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) recommendations should be heeded, he advises. These include maintaining 10 inches from the sternum to the steering wheel, always transporting children in rear-facing child seats in the back seat (because in the front seat their head is too close to the airbag), and always transporting children less than 12 years of age in the back seat as well.