TY - JOUR
T1 - Increased motor vehicle fatalities Tuesday through Thursday during the US Thanksgiving holiday (1980–2018)
AU - Ratnapradipa, Kendra L.
AU - Zhu, Motao
N1 - Funding Information:
MZ received support from the National Institute on Aging (R01AG050581) and the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (R01HD074594). The funding sources had no involvement in the study design; collection, analysis and interpretation of data; the writing of the manuscript; or the decision to submit the manuscript for publication. This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health [grant numbers R01AG050581, R01HD074594].
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 The Authors
PY - 2020/12
Y1 - 2020/12
N2 - Traffic crashes remain a leading cause of death in the United States; holidays are known to have increased travel and traffic fatalities. Our purpose was to determine which days during Thanksgiving had the highest crash fatality risk compared to non-holiday periods. Using time series and binomial approximations, we analyzed Fatality Analysis Reporting System data (1980–2018) with a Monday-Sunday holiday and matching comparisons the weeks before and after. Fatalities included 31,263 during the holiday, 30,361 the previous week, and 29,399 the following week. Deadliest days during the holiday were Saturday (16.7% of fatalities) and Wednesday (16.0%), but odds of a traffic fatality (vs. non-holiday) were highest Wednesday [odds ratio (OR) 1.35, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.29–1.40], Thanksgiving (OR 1.18, 95% CI 1.13–1.23), and Tuesday (OR 1.12, 95% CI 1.06–1.17). The 35 excess holiday fatalities per year may have limited practical significance considering increased holiday travel.
AB - Traffic crashes remain a leading cause of death in the United States; holidays are known to have increased travel and traffic fatalities. Our purpose was to determine which days during Thanksgiving had the highest crash fatality risk compared to non-holiday periods. Using time series and binomial approximations, we analyzed Fatality Analysis Reporting System data (1980–2018) with a Monday-Sunday holiday and matching comparisons the weeks before and after. Fatalities included 31,263 during the holiday, 30,361 the previous week, and 29,399 the following week. Deadliest days during the holiday were Saturday (16.7% of fatalities) and Wednesday (16.0%), but odds of a traffic fatality (vs. non-holiday) were highest Wednesday [odds ratio (OR) 1.35, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.29–1.40], Thanksgiving (OR 1.18, 95% CI 1.13–1.23), and Tuesday (OR 1.12, 95% CI 1.06–1.17). The 35 excess holiday fatalities per year may have limited practical significance considering increased holiday travel.
KW - Binomial approximation
KW - Fatality
KW - Fatality analysis reporting system (FARS)
KW - Motor vehicle crash
KW - Thanksgiving
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85096147761&partnerID=8YFLogxK
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U2 - 10.1016/j.pmedr.2020.101245
DO - 10.1016/j.pmedr.2020.101245
M3 - Article
C2 - 33251097
AN - SCOPUS:85096147761
SN - 2211-3355
VL - 20
JO - Preventive Medicine Reports
JF - Preventive Medicine Reports
M1 - 101245
ER -