Influence of obesity on mortality of drivers in severe motor vehicle crashes.

Purpose: The purpose of the study was to investigate the relationship between obesity and mortality of drivers in severe motor vehicle crashes involving at least one fatality.

Basic Procedures: Fatalities were selected from 155,584 drivers included in the 2000-2005 Fatality Analysis Reporting System. Drivers were stratified by body mass index, confounders were adjusted for, and multiple logistic regression was used to determine the odds ratio (OR) of death in each body mass index class compared with normal weight.