MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Jingzhen Ginger Yang, PhD, MPH Principal Investigator at the Center for Injury Research and Policy Abigail Wexner Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital Professor of Pediatrics at The Ohio State University College of Medicine with a courtesy appointment in the Department of Epidemiolog in The Ohio State University College of Public Health MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for U.S. teens. Newer vehicles and driver assistance technologies show promise in reducing crashes and injury severities. Our study found that driving vehicles 6-15 years old had a 19% greater risk of driver death in fatal crashes, and driving vehicles older than 15 years had a 31% greater risk, both compared to driving vehicles 5 years old or newer, regardless of driver age. Additionally, each driver assistance technology already present in vehicles was associated with a 6% reduction in the risk of driver death in fatal crashes. (more…)