Citation

Wallace PF. Proc. Am. Assoc. Automot. Med. Annu. Conf. 1966; 10: 19-22.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1966, Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

I make no secret of being for business. I have a business. I was raised and educated on automotive money. I do not like government encroachment on my business and I don't like to see it invade the automotive business. So to see publicity implying that the automobile companies are the major blame for fatalities and injuries seems unfair, especially when the government steps in. We know there are many other factors far more important in the causes of fatalities; factors such as lack of driver education, inadequate drivers, inadequate roads, congestion, obsolete cars, and lack of safety margins along roads. We even forget that the number of fatalities per year has not changed much in many years while miles driven and cars on the road have increased beyond comprehension. As doctors, have we taken adequate stock of our role in fatalities. We are all confronted with patients whose ability to drive is certainly to be questioned. It is certainly our responsibility to make sure that these patients do not drive cars by all that is in our power of persuasion, and to notify where applicable, authorities about these people, so that their licenses can be revoked. This problem is simple in the grossly inadequate patient. It becomes a real problem in the more subtle portions of our psychological, physiological and mechanical ability evaluations of patients, and a considerable amount of work certainly needs to be done along this line.