MOTOR VEHICLE FATALITIES INCREASE JUST AFTER PUBLICIZED SUICIDE STORIES

The average increase in motor vehicle fatalities is 9.12 percent in the week after a suicide story. The more publicity given to the story, the greater the rise in motor vehicle deaths thereafter. This rise apparently occurs because suicide stories stimulate a wave of imitative suicides, some of which are disguised as motor vehicle accidents. /Author/

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/00368075
• Corporate Authors:

  American University

  Development Education and Training Research Institute
  Washington, DC  United States 
• Authors:
  • Phillips, D P
• Publication Date: 1977-6-24

Media Info

• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: p. 1464-65
• Serial:
  • Science
  • Volume: 196
  • Issue Number: 4297
  • Publisher: American Association for the Advancement of Science
  • ISSN: 0036-8075
  • Serial URL: http://science.sciencemag.org/

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Crash rates; Fatalities; Publicity; Suicide; Traffic crashes
• Uncontrolled Terms: Motor vehicle accidents
• Subject Areas: Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00165519
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Dec 27 1977 12:00AM