Obese people more likely to die in car crashes

New Scientist ^ | March 2, 2002 | Kurt Kleiner

[SarahW]

Well heck, He probably had a hernia. One sharp lacerating blow plus squeezing from weight would be all it would take.

And consider this - he might have has a collagen defect, they're rather common in certain populations in the south, incl. Alabama. The skin can overstretch if tugged slowly - but will snap, literally unzip if hit the right way. Kinda like silly putty.

[flyervet]

I didn't mean to give you the impression that the man fell six inches.

What do you mean the impression that he fell six inches? You said he fell six inches moving at two miles per hour. No impression is involved. You said he fell six inches. Period.

He would have been standing up on that surface that was only six inches off the ground.

No kidding. I understood that part. I have no problem believing his belly could have burst open.

And you also have no understanding of basic anatomy. Human beings don't simply burst open unless they fall from a great height or at a great speed.

[RipSawyer]

I am glad somebody got the picture. Now can you please tell me how anyone can possibly think there is a big mystery to all this? I am literally dumbfounded by the article that says that "noone yet knows what it is that puts overweight passengers at extra risk". DUUUUUUUHHHHHHH, it seems so simple to me, am I missing something?

[go star go]

exactly. it's just basic physics. did they really need a study for this?

[RipSawyer]

This is my last comment on this. I did not say he fell six inches. Go back and read it. I said this would have been a fall from a surface no more than six inches off the ground. I neglected to mention that he would have been standing on the thing, probably because I know what the man was standing on and I sometimes forget that most people these days would not have any idea what a ground sled was. Now can you understand what I actually said? And if you don't believe that a tall, very fat man falling on his belly on a hard surface could literally split his belly then you just don't understand as much as you think you do. Best Wishes.

[crystalk]

It may be because they cannot fasten the seat belt: it won't go around them.

Also, it may be that they are run over by the spare tire, as it were.

[flyervet]

Well heck, He probably had a hernia.

An enormous hernia that ran most of the length of his body and all the way through his clothing.

And consider this - he might have has a collagen defect, they're rather common in certain populations in the south, incl. Alabama.

Actually, there are several different types of collagen defects, none of which that I've found would cause someone to "unzip" if hit the right way. Which defect are you speaking of? Anyway, I'm from Alabama, and while it's true that in our past we were known to have higher incidences of certain diseases here in the south (such as pelagra), I can assure you that if falling from a height of six inches and "unzipping" were rather common, we would have heard a lot more of this sort of story by now!

Of course, given the vigorous quality of farm life, you would expect that someone with such a severe "collagen disorder" would have had ample incidence to hit his skin in just the right way causing it to "unzip". Yet here we have a supposedly very fat man driving a single mule with a sled, a typical farm activity in early 20th century Alabama. So the man couldn't have been that fat, and it's doubtful he was that medically fragile.

[flyervet]

I neglected to mention that he would have been standing on the thing, probably because I know what the man was standing on and I sometimes forget that most people these days would not have any idea what a ground sled was.

I know what a ground sled was, and I understood the man to be standing. When an individual is said to have fallen from a certain height, that height is given as the difference between the surface they fell from and the ground. Thus someone who falls from a 100 ft cliff is said to have fallen 100 feet, not 100 feet plus the six feet he stood when he was alive.

Now can you understand what I actually said?

Yes. You said a fat man took a six inch fall at two miles per hour and "busted open like a ripe watermelon and his guts spilled out". It gets funnier and funnier every time I think about it. Not the hapless uncle, mind you, but the eager young freeper swallowing hook, line and sinker what is obviously an Alabama tall tale. I bet the good ol' boy is still chuckling to himself over your gullability.

[RipSawyer]

Okay, I said that was my last comment but you have done gone and done it now. "Eager young freeper"? I had that conversation thirty years ago and I was talking to someone younger than myself. I was honorably discharged from the Navy before that man went to Vietnam. And I still say that if you think what he described is impossible you don't understand diddly squat.

[flyervet]

Okay, so you were a gullible adult talking to a precocious good ol' boy who got you but good. There's no shame in that. Now before you make an ass out of yourself again, do a little basic reading in human physiology. Believe me, you'll thank yourself later.

[SarahW]

Sigh. I give up trying to convince you. No, all he would need is a lacerating blow to get the process started.

Well, I know more than you do about collagen defects, it seems. In fact I have a very mild form myself.

Yes, a persons skin can literally split open. And I'm not even getting to the other parts of the body that become more prone to injury and/or rupture. It isn't limited to skin.

[SarahW]

Maybe you should do the same.

[flyervet]

Sigh. I give up trying to convince you. No, all he would need is a lacerating blow to get the process started.

He fell on a flat surface. Well, I know more than you do about collagen defects, it seems. In fact I have a very mild form myself.

That's avoiding the question I asked, which was, "Which collagen disorder are you speaking of?"

BTW, if you have OI, my condolences. My neice has that and it's a living hell.

And I'm not even getting to the other parts of the body that become more prone to injury and/or rupture. It isn't limited to skin.

In the case of this particular tall tale, it would be.

[Glenn]

the do-gooders will use this information in order to fuel legislation

You people just don't get it. It's not the do-gooders. It's the people who stand to gain by making money. Insurers. Think of the number of mandated protections in your life. Look at the cost of your life/health/auto insurance now and ten years ago. You're getting screwed by greed and lawyers.

[flyervet]

I have, which is how I know that human beings don't break open like pinatas at the slightest knock or bump.

[RedBloodedAmerican]

Does Rosie use a chaffeur?

[Yardstick]

Somebody page Gallagher so we can get this watermelon thing settled once and for all!

[RipSawyer]

Okay, I'm a little slow but I finally figured it out. If I were standing in a six inch deep hole just big enough for my two feet and I pitched forward onto my face my six feet and four inches of height have nothing to do with anything therefore I would be said to have levitated six inches since my body would come to rest at a height six inches above where I was standing. I am sorry it took me so long to understand. Just imagine, for all my life I have been operating under the assumption that that would be called "falling down".

[RipSawyer]

Gallagher would probably understand this a lot more than flyervet does.

[Bush2000]

to fuel legislation against fatty foods, or maybe a cheeseburger tax....

It's coming. Just wait...