Another anti helmet legislation argument bites the dust When Ian Walker’s paper appeared in Accid Anal Prev in 2007 purporting to show that cars drove closer to helmeted than unhelmeted cyclists, it was quickly used as another argument against helmet legislation. But for me as a long time cyclist, something did not ring true. Jake […]
Category: News & Notes
Wellington’s recent earthquakes
Hearing that Wellington (on the north island on New Zealand) had been struck by an earthquake of 6.8 magnitude, just weeks after being shaken by a 6.5 magnitude earthquake, has me thinking that ‘injury prevention’ is so much more broad in scope than perhaps I had previously realised. Having visited Wellington in October 2012, I am familiar […]
Distractions – a growing injury issue moving beyond the car?
Distracted driving has justifiably received a tremendous amount of attention in the injury prevention field. But the issue of distractions and the associated injury risk might be getting even bigger and becoming more relevant outside of the motor vehicle realm. There is lots of interesting speculation about an impending boom in wearable computing. Several major […]
Recent age and sex trends of suicides in veterans require in-depth investigations
On February 1st, the United States Department of Veterans Affairs released the most recent statistics on suicides in veterans. The report is based on data from 21 states from 1999 to 2010. The report presented suicide trends in veterans in two different ways. First it showed that in 1999 one in four persons committing suicide […]
Firearm research mentioned by US Vice President Biden in response to gun violence
Joe Biden has begun to offer an outline of what he will recommend to the US president as a policy response to gun violence. Early indications suggest that recommendations will include universal background checks for gun buyers, closing the “gun show loophole,” and prohibitions on large capacity magazines. Interestingly, the press is also reporting that Biden would like to remedy the de facto […]
What the Global Burden of Disease Study (GBD) 2010 says about causes of injury deaths.
Over the years, the Global Burden of Disease Study (GBDS) has provided an excellent resource to support advocacy for injury prevention research. The Lancet has recently published (Dec 14, 2012) findings from the latest GBDS funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The GBDS 2010 focused on comparing estimated mortality and morbidity trends between […]
Groceries-for-guns: Too unrefined to be an effective solution
The Newtown gun violence tragedy has influenced opinions inside and outside United States (US). Los Angeles (LA) County, which has an annual buyback plan to exchange grocery cards for US$100 to US$200 for guns in May each year, decided to hold this event again on December 27, 2012. According to officials, the program duration had […]
All-terrain vehicles remain in the spotlight
A timely paper by Denning, Harland, Ellis and Jennissen appeared in our ‘Online First’ register right before Christmas, and given the hectic nature of the festive season, I wanted to encourage our readers to make themselves familiar with the findings. All-terrain vehicles remain a controversial transportation mode in countries including the United States, Canada, and […]
“Meaningful Action” to Prevent Gun Violence: where to start?
Like all of you, my heart is saddened by Friday’s gun violence at Newton, Connecticut, United States (US). As a parent of two (one of school age), thoughts about the loss that parents of deceased children in the Sandy Hook Elementary now face made me feel helpless. Nevertheless, listening to President Obama’s speech on Saturday […]
The Sandy Hook tragedy
My first reaction when I learned of the horrific events in Connecticut two days ago was to mourn with the parents of the children who were killed. My second reaction was to go to this computer and compose a message about gun control on this blog. That message would have said something along the lines […]