Wheelchair Users May Be More Likely To Die In Car Crashes

Wheel chair users may be more likely to die in car crashes, according to a recent study.

Researchers at Georgetown University's School of Medicine found that pedestrians in wheelchairs have a 36 percent higher risk of being killed in road collisions over other types of pedestrians. Men between the ages of 50 and 64 who use wheelchairs also have a 75 percent higher death risk via traffic collision than pedestrians of similar age who do not use a wheelchair.

"Understanding and describing risks are the first steps to reversing them," study author John Kraemer, assistant professor of health systems administration at Georgetown's School of Nursing & Health Studies, said in a news release. "While there was a little data on non-fatal pedestrian injuries among people who use wheelchairs, there were almost none on fatal injuries."

During the study, researchers discovered that 528 pedestrians using wheelchairs were killed in road traffic collisions between 2006 and 2012 at intersections.

Though it's unclear at this time why there is a higher incidence of fatalities in this group, it could be due poor infrastructure.

"A high proportion of crashes occurred at locations without traffic controls or crosswalks," Kraemer said. "When there is poor pedestrian infrastructure or it's poorly adapted to people with mobility impairments, people who use wheelchairs often are forced to use the streets, or are otherwise exposed to greater risk. It also may be telling that, in three-quarters of crashes, there was no evidence that the driver sought to avoid the crash."

The study is published in BMJ Open.

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