Research Papers

This study sought to provide a deeper understanding of inequalities in traffic safety. Among New Jersey drivers involved in crashes, people who live in lower opportunity neighborhoods and people of minoritized race and ethnicity groups were more likely to be involved in injury crashes and all crashes. These findings emphasize the need to consider a person’s lived experience when assessing their crash risk and a path to reducing disparities in traffic safety. 

Although older adults may use potentially driver-impairing (PDI) medications that can produce psychomotor impairment, little is known about changes to PDI medication use among older adults from the time before to the time after a motor vehicle crash (MVC). Study findings  suggest that most older drivers involved in MVCs did not use fewer PDI medications after crashes than before. Qualitative research of perceived risks versus benefits of PDI medications is necessary to understand why MVCs do not appear to motivate clinicians to deprescribe PDI medications. 

The medical conditions and medications that make someone more likely to be involved in a crash do not necessarily make someone more likely to be injured in a crash. Using linked NJ-SHO data and Medicare claims data of older drivers, researchers found differences between crash-involved drivers with and without an injury. Researchers should consider linking multiple sources of crash information and make a clear distinction between predicting crash involvement and being injured in a crash.

Understanding how many children are injured in crashes, as well as the types of injuries they experience, is important to advance child passenger safety. Linking New Jersey crash reports and hospital data revealed that crash reports often report inaccurate injury locations and tend to overstate the severity of injuries experienced. Very few children experienced any injury in a crash, and injuries were rare among children in harnessed child restraint systems. 

Z-drugs like zolpidem are taken at night to facilitate sleep but may cause sedation that affects driving the following morning. NJ-SHO researchers and Brown University collaborators used linked Medicare claims data and crash and licensing records to see if older drivers taking Z-drugs for 12 weeks were more likely to crash than those not taking Z-drugs. They did not find elevated risk of overall crashes, at-fault crashes, or crashes that occurred in the morning associated with a Z-drug prescription. 

Young adults with mood disorders were 30% less likely to acquire a driver’s license compared to their peers without mood disorders. Young adults with mood disorders had slightly higher overall crash rates at 12- and 48-months post-licensure and had double the rate of license suspensions compared to their peers without mood disorders. Research suggests the need to develop evidence-based training and education for adolescents with mood disorders who want to drive. 

Some medications, such as antihistamines and antidepressants, can impact a person’s driving and are considered potentially driver-impairing (PDI). Over half of older Medicare beneficiaries involved in crashes in New Jersey were exposed to two or more potentially driver-impairing (PDI) medications before and after a crash. Some drivers started taking more PDI medications after a crash, suggesting the need for more attention to the effects on driving for older people involved in crashes.

Using population-based crash and hospital discharge data, the incidence of motor vehicle crashes over a 28-day period did not change on average after surgery, but specific populations are at risk. 

Examining crash reports with linked community-level indicators may optimize efforts aimed at improving traffic safety behaviors, like seat belt use. This study found that not wearing a seat belt is 121% more prevalent in communities with the largest percentage of the population living with three or more indicators of vulnerability than those in the least vulnerable communities.

In 30 states, licensing agencies can restrict the distance from home that "medically-at-risk" drivers are permitted to drive. This study found that a majority of crashes occur within a few miles from home with little variation among driver demographics or medical conditions. Therefore, distance restrictions may not reduce crash rates among older adults. Future research is needed to understand the extent to which older adults drive and to identify other factors that influence crash risk.