A study published by The American Journal of Medicine this month showed a correlation between unvaccinated people and car crashes. Of the total sample, 16% of people were unvaccinated, but 25% of the car crash victims were unvaccinated.
Because the percentage of unvaccinated people involved in crashes is higher than in the larger population, the study concludes that the unvaccinated have a “72% increased relative risk compared with those vaccinated.”
To conduct the study, authors used Canadian government registry data and medical records to gather information on 11,270,763 individuals. The individuals’ identifiers were encrypted, but the investigators were able to determine whether people were vaccinated and whether they were involved in a car crash where at least one person was taken to the hospital.
One of the conclusions made in the study is that car insurance companies may be justified in raising premiums for unvaccinated people. Many conservatives are concerned as people have already been turned away from restaurants, hospitals, airplanes, and other venues for not having proof of vaccination.
During a Senate Health & Education Committee hearing, U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) cited a study that showed vaccinated people are seven times more likely to be infected with COVID than those who have gotten it and recovered naturally. He also added that natural immunity is a logical reason for not getting the vaccine.
Paul said vaccine proponents who don’t consider all the reasons people may choose not to be vaccinated have an “authoritarian nature.” He added vaccine promoters want to, “tell all of America, ‘do what we say, and if not, we'll fine them or put them in jail.’”
This statement isn’t hyperbolic. Government vaccine mandates in the US for employees in 2021 drew a lawsuit from 11 state attorneys general. While public masking and some vaccine requirements have been relaxed since then, there are still serious concerns for those who choose not to get vaccinated.
In addition to unvaccinated drivers and passengers being at higher risk in the study, it also found pedestrians who were hit by cars are also more likely to be unvaccinated. Though, the discussion of these statistics doesn’t claim any kind of explanation.
The American Journal of Medicine study says “COVID vaccine hesitancy” is what correlates to significantly “increased risks of a traffic crash.” The study also suggests that publicizing this risk and increasing awareness will encourage more people to get the COVID vaccine.
A primary author of the study, Dr. Donald A. Redelmeier, said on CTV News Toronto that it may be wise for car insurance companies to “give a 5% discount” for proof of vaccination.
Redelmeier suggests that unvaccinated people should not feel persecuted by the study, but encourages incentives that push people to get vaccinated. Despite this, Redelmeier has already received critical and even vitriolic reactions.
The study also speculates a primary cause for the correlation between crash risk and being unvaccinated, saying, “Individual adults who tend to resist public health recommendations might also neglect basic road safety guidelines.”
At the same time, the authors admit, “We verify that traffic crashes disproportionately involve those in poverty.” They then posit that unvaccinated crash victims were more likely to be “younger, living in a rural area, and below the middle socioeconomic quintile.”
Reactions to the study on Twitter range from supportive, to critical, to even mocking:
Younger males are less likely to be jabbed and more likely to have a car crash.
Next…
There’s no data or discussion about why certain people have “vaccine hesitancy,” although the study generously speculates as to the cause of the correlation. It puts forward Redelmeier’s suggestion of increased car insurance rates for unvaccinated people in the future. And the authors say the significance of the study’s results may justify such an increase.
While the study says explanations for causation cannot be ascertained with this data, it encourages more studies to be done. It also goes on to list multiple speculated alternative causes like antipathy toward regulations, poverty, receiving misinformation, and a lack of resources.
It’s clear that being unvaccinated is not the cause of increased car crash risks. But the authors do suggest that healthcare providers and first responders use caution and consider higher possible COVID exposure around cash sites.
In addition to unvaccinated drivers and passengers being at higher risk in the study, it also found pedestrians who were hit by cars are also more likely to be unvaccinated. Though, the discussion of these statistics doesn’t claim any kind of explanation.
The final conclusion of the study is that, “unvaccinated adults need to be careful indoors with other people and outside with surrounding traffic.”
Conservatives and celebrities are already balking in their reactions:
Laugh all you want at this silly study that claims unvaxxed people are 72% more likely to be in a serious car wreck.
But this will be "justification" for insurance companies to hike rates (ie. punish) people who declined COVID mRNA jab. Mark my words.
Last month it was climate change giving people heart problems!
And now… drum roll…
If you don’t get the jabby Jab you’ll crash your car!!
Hahahaha!!! 😹 😂
While this study has sparked disagreement and skepticism online, Redelmeier holds his position that vaccine incentives are a “wise maneuver.”
Other studies have shown, however, that “Unvaccinated adults are younger, less educated, more likely to be republicans, people of color, and uninsured.”
There’s also concern among racial equity proponents that car insurance rates are already higher for people in minority neighborhoods. And these same proponents may find the study as distasteful as conservatives have.
If car insurance companies increase premiums for unvaccinated people, it could bring the kind of backlash that New York City received last year with its proof of vaccination requirements, leaving people across the aisle unhappy.
