Outrage as scientists say the unvaccinated crash more and should pay more in car insurance
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Scientists have sparked outrage after asking Americans who aren’t vaccinated against Covid to pay higher auto insurance premiums.
They issued the call after a study found that people who had not received a vaccine were 70 percent more likely to be involved in a traffic accident in which at least one person was transported to the hospital.
Canadian researchers suggested that people who don’t get vaccinated are reckless. But the findings drew disbelief and ridicule on social media, with doctors describing the results as “stupid” and “a joke.”
The blue line indicates vaccinated people and the red line those who are not vaccinated against COVID. Counts in brackets indicate the cumulative number of people in each group who were in an accident resulting in hospitalization. It shows that those who are not vaccinated are relatively more likely to have an accident.
The study, published in the American Journal of Medicine, indicated that about 1,700 out of about 6,700 traffic accidents involved unvaccinated people, representing a 72% increased relative risk compared with vaccinated people.
The Canadian study said that the “observed risks could also justify changes to drivers’ insurance policies in the future.”
an user said: ‘The ultimate goal of these studies is to say ‘those people are the outgroup and they deserve everything bad that happens to them.’ We should make their lives worse on purpose.”
The new to study – by researchers at the Sunnybrook Research Institute in Toronto – analyzed 6,682 traffic accidents in Ontario in the summer of 2021.
Almost 1,700 of those involved in the accidents had not received a single covid vaccine.
The researchers said it was “equal to a 72 percent increased relative risk compared with the vaccinated.”
They concluded: ‘These data suggest that Covid vaccine hesitancy is associated with significantly increased risks of a road traffic accident.
‘…the observed risks could also justify changes to drivers’ insurance policies in the future.’
Dr. Donald Redelmeier, the principal investigator said: ‘Our study showed that trafficking risks were… 70% more frequent for adults who had not been vaccinated compared to those who had.
‘This does not mean that vaccination against COVID-19 will directly prevent traffic accidents. Instead, it suggests that adults who don’t follow public health advice may also neglect the rules of the road.”
the investigation was published in The American Journal of Medicine this week.
It went viral on social media for what people considered outlandish and morally dubious findings.
Seattle-area conservative AM radio host Jason Rantz said, “This is exactly the kind of pointless study that sets the stage for auto insurance companies to charge the unvaccinated more for coverage.” It’s transparent.
The public pounced on the study, claiming that it unfairly targets people who have not received a covid vaccine for whatever reason.
The researchers behind the study postulated a correlation between “mistrust in government, belief in freedom, misconceptions of everyday risks… exposure to misinformation, insufficient resources, and other personal beliefs” with increased risk of traffic accidents.
The study had many limitations. It was based on accidents that resulted in hospitalizations, but did not include those accidents that were too minor to warrant going to the hospital.
The sample size includes pedestrians and drivers involved in traffic accidents.
Dr Clare Craig, British Diagnostic Pathologist said: ‘Here’s a joke from a study that claims the unvaccinated are involved in more car accidents. There is a lot wrong with it.
Researchers could make any claims about the unvaccinated with that data backing them up, such as having a higher recycling rate or giving to charity because the ‘denominator [was] artificially small.
Dr. Craig wasn’t the only expert to scoff at the study.
Dr. Vinay Prasad, a hematologist, oncologist, and health researcher at the University of California, San Francisco, said: ‘This also repeats the silly idea that primary care physicians should counsel unvaccinated people about driving.’
The study reported that the increased risk for unvaccinated people of being in a traffic accident was greater than the risk associated with diabetes or dementia and exceeded only by the relative risk associated with a history of alcohol abuse.
Lead author Dr. Redelmeier suggested the findings were more innocuous than how they were interpreted online.
‘We don’t want unvaccinated people to feel persecuted and we don’t suggest they stop driving; instead, we suggest that you drive a little more carefully.