ABSTRACT
Introduction
Motor vehicle crashes are a significant cause of mortality in the US (where our study population is located): 34,000 Americans died in 2009 in motor vehicle crashes (NHTSA, 2010) and death from a motor vehicle crash is the single largest cause of mortality for both male and female Americans between ages 5 and 35. The death rate among young men is over twice that of women of the same age. Drivers aged 16-19 are four times more likely to crash than are older drivers (National Center for Health Statistics, 2007). Preliminary data show that residence of the driver in a fatal crash is also a key factor contributing to mortality from auto crashes. National Fatal Accident Report System (FARS) data show that the mortality rate from auto crashes for American males under 30 in the least dense (most rural) quintile of the population is four times as high as the rate in the densest (most urban) fifth of the population (NETI, 2010).
