Thursday, January 17, 2008

Driving Fat = Driving Drunk!?

Seriously!?

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23064210-1702,00.html

SERIOUSLY!?

http://www.sciencealert.com.au/news/20081601-16790-3.html

SERIOUSLY?????

*Headdesk*

In honor of this particular story, which actually has a pretty good chance of getting picked up by media outlets around the world, I would like to propose a new award.....

The CDNEC (CeDNEC, rhymes with Redneck) Award


7 comments:

Erin said...

You have GOT to be kidding me.

I suppose it never occurred to anyone involved in this so-called research that sleep apnea may be a contributing factor to obesity, and THAT'S why they occur together. Wait, if that's true then we can't hate teh fattiez, so that can't be true!

Awesome award. I may have to borrow it for some people I know.

JoGeek said...

I know, it amazes me that these people were actually allowed to graduate somewhere....mail-order degree maybe?

Feel free to use the award anywhere you'd like!

JoGeek said...

I prettied up the award graphic to make it more sharable. have at it :-)

Anonymous said...

Love it! (The award, not the idiotic study.)

vesta44 said...

At the end of the second article they said mood had nothing to do with driving ability. They never saw me drive when I was pissed off. When I was younger, if I got mad about something, the world was a much safer place if I didn't get behind the wheel of my car. If I was mad and driving, I didn't care who was coming, who was in my way, what the speed limit was, or anything about safety. I was a rage machine with a lethal weapon and I didn't care about myself or anyone else (thank all the powers that be that I've since gotten a handle on all that rage).
As far as driving while fat being as bad as driving while drunk re sleep apnea - even when I was a so-called "normal" size, I couldn't drive for more than an hour without getting sleepy. I needed to stop every hour or so and get out to walk around, or have something to munch on in the car with me (for some reason, eating a pretzel every 5 minutes or so keeps me awake on driving trips over a couple of hours in length).
The other thing, I don't think this study had a large enough population to come with any really useful conclusions. Less than 100 drivers is not basis for a valid comparison with all existing drivers everywhere, IMHO.

Harpy said...

They also mentioned nothing about the safety features in most vehicles not really being suitable for anyone who's not an average-height slim man. If you've got big boobs or a big belly, that can make adjusting the seat and steering wheel a bit difficult so you can still reach the pedals correctly. And seat belts don't fit properly and aren't rated for higher weights and all that. These can all lead to an uncomfortable driving experience that might have you a bit cranky and distracted.

As for sleep apnoea, if I was in charge of health, I'd offer everyone, fat or thin, in the country a free sleep study every 2-3 years and hand out CPAP machines and jaw advancement devices like they were candy. Crappy sleep gives you so much mental and physical angst.

Anonymous said...

Gah! Seems that they've decided everyone who is 'obese' has sleep apnea and everyone with sleep apnea is obese. What a load of bollocks.