THE PREVENTION OF HIGHWAY INJURY
DEATH AND INJURY ASSOCIATED WITH THE USE OF THE AUTOMOBILE HAVE BECOME A MAJOR HEALTH PROBLEM IN THE UNITED STATES. LIKE MANY OF THE DISORDERS THAT LIMIT LIFE AND HEALTH IN MODERN SOCIETY, THE ETIOLOGY OF TRAUMA ASSOCIATED WITH AUTOMOBILE USE DOES NOT HAVE A SINGLE CAUSE NOR A SIMPLE REMEDY. TWO IMPORTANT STRATEGIES MUST BE DEVELOPED IN ORDER TO UNDERSTAND AND ATTACK THE CAUSES OF TRAUMA ASSOCIATED WITH AUTOMOBILE USE. THE FIRST OF THESE IS THE REALM OF EPIDEMIOLOGY AND THE SECOND IS THE REALM OF SYSTEMS ANALYSIS. EPIDEMIOLOGY HAD ITS ORIGINS IN THE STUDY OF INFECTIOUS DESEASES WHERE A SINGLE ORGANISM COULD BE INDICTED AS THE EXPLICIT CAUSE OF A PARTICULAR FORM OF ILLNESS. EPIDEMIOLOGY, HOWEVER, CONCERNS ITSELF WITH THE TOTAL ARRAY OF FACTORS IN THE ENVIRONMENT WHICH ALTER THE MANNER IN WHICH THIS BASICALLY SIMPLE CAUSE-EFFECT RELATIONSHIP EXPRESS ITSELF. AGE, SEX, CULTURAL BACKGROUND, EDUCATION, ECONOMIC STATUS, CLIMATOLOGICAL CONDITIONS, TIME OF YEAR, TIME OF DAY, CULTURAL SETTING, AND A HOST OF OTHER ELEMENTS ARE ALL CRUCIAL TO THE UNDERSTANDING OF THE EPIDEMIOLOGY OF THIS VERY SIMPLE SYSTEM WHERE A SINGLE CAUSITIVE AGENT CAN BE IDENTIFIED AS THE EXCLUSIVE ETIOLOGY OF A WELL DEFINED DISEASE. IN RECENT TIMES EPIDEMIOLOGY HAS BEGUN TO MOVE TOWARD A STUDY OF THE EPIDEMIOLOGY OF NONINFECTIOUS DESEASES. HEART DISEASE, CANCER, AND BEHAVIORAL DISORDER ARE ALL TYPICAL OF THIS NEW SET OF ENTITIES. AMONG THIS SET HIGHWAY INJURY, AND OTHER TRAUMA RELATED TO AUTOMOBILES USE, MUST BE INCLUDED. THE POWERFULLY EFFECTIVE TECHNIQUES OF THE EPIDEMIOLOGIST MUST FIND THEIR APPLICATION IN THE STUDY OF AUTOMOBILE INJURIES. THE NARRATIVE AND DESCRIPTIVE EMPIRICAL FORMULATIONS OF THE EPIDEMIOLOGIST CAN BE TREATED IN A QUANTITATIVE MATHEMATICAL MODEL THAT ALLOWS OPTIMIZATION STUDIES AND APPROXIMATE QUANTITATION OF THE RESULT OF MANIPULATING ONE OR ANOTHER FACTOR WHEN THESE EPIDEMIOLOGIC DATA ARE THE FOUNDATION OF A SYSTEMS ANALYSIS. BECAUSE AUTOMOBILE RELATED INJURY IS A PRODUCT OF MAN'S EFFORT, THERE IS A GREAT HOPE THAT THIS SAME EFFORT CAN REDUCE THE INCIDENCE AND SEVERITY OF THESE INJURIES. SINCE THIS IS A MAN-MADE SYSTEM, IN LARGE PART, THE PROBABLE EFFECTIVENESS OF A TOTAL SYSTEMS ANALYSIS WILL BE HIGH. /AUTHOR/
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Supplemental Notes:
- 295 Pp, Fig, TAB
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Corporate Authors:
Highway Safety Research Institute
Huron Parkway and Baxter Road
Ann Arbor, MI United States 48109 -
Authors:
- SELZER, M L
- Gikas, P W
- Huelke, D F
- Publication Date: 1967
Media Info
- Features: Figures; Tables;
- Pagination: 295 p.
Subject/Index Terms
- TRT Terms: Automobiles; Epidemiology; Fatalities; Highways; Injuries; Mathematical models; Prevention; Systems analysis
- Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors; Security and Emergencies;
Filing Info
- Accession Number: 00220833
- Record Type: Publication
- Source Agency: Nat Safety Council Safety Res Info Serv
- Report/Paper Numbers: HS-004 500
- Files: TRIS
- Created Date: Sep 14 1970 12:00AM