Human Impact Partners Evidence Base
Articles in Driving is associated with multiple health impacts.
Traveling to and from work is the single biggest cause of stress for many people. According to a UK survey, 44% of people believed rush hour traffic was the single most stressful part of their life.
BBC. Commuting is 'biggest stress'. 2000. Available at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/999961.stm. Accessed July 17, 2009.
Driving increases the heart rate, especially on city streets and during 'critical situations' such as passing and sudden stops.
Frumkin H, Frank L, Jackson R. Urban Sprawl and Public Health: Designing, Planning and Building for Healthy Communities. Washington, DC: Island Press; 2004.
Half of patients known to have coronary artery disease showed pathological EKG changes while driving.
Frumkin H, Frank L, Jackson R. Urban Sprawl and Public Health: Designing, Planning and Building for Healthy Communities. Washington, DC: Island Press; 2004.
In Philadelphia, physicians studied drivers before and after two hours of city driving, and found increased urinary levels of the stress hormones catecholamine and corticosteroids.
Bellet S, Roman L, Kostis J. The effects of automobile driving on catecholamoine and adrenocortical excretion. Am J Cardiol. 1969;24:365-368.
Miami University students volunteered to drive their cars across the city for 45 minutes and when tested had higher blood pressure, higher heart rates, and lower frustration tolerance than controls.
White S, Rotton J. Type of commute, behavioral aftereffects, and cardiovascular activity. Environ Behav. 1998;30:763-780.
Time spent in a car driving is associated with 1.6 to 2.8 times higher odds of having shoulder pain than those who spend less time in a car.
Skov T, Borg V, Orhede E. Psychosocial and physical risk factors for musculoskeletal disorders of the neck, shoulders, and lower back in salespeople. Occup Environ Med. 1996;53(5):351-356.
People who drive 9,000-18,000 miles annually are 75% more likely to have neck and back pain than those who drive 3,000 miles annually.
Skov T, Borg V, Orhede E. Psychosocial and physical risk factors for musculoskeletal disorders of the neck, shoulders, and lower back in salespeople. Occup Environ Med. 1996;53(5):351-356.
Motorized transportation accounts for a large and growing share of the country’s greenhouse gas emissions. Greenhouse gases are contributing to climate change, which may increase heat-related illness and death, health effects related to extreme weather events, health effects related to air pollution, water-borne and food-borne diseases, and vector-borne and rodent-borne disease.
Knowlton K, Lynn B, Goldberg RA, et al. Projecting heat-related mortality impacts under a changing climiate in the New York City region. Am J Public Health. 2007;97:2028-2034.
Canadian Public Health Association. Health effects of climate change and air pollution. 2007. Available at: http://www.ccah.cpha.ca/effects.htm. Accessed on January 21, 2008.
US Environmental Protection Agency. Climate change and public health. US Office of Policy, Environmental Protection Planning and Evaluation Agency, 1997. Report EPA 236-F-97_005.Even construction of transit projects can have health implications for disadvantaged communities. For example, when the Cypress Freeway was built in the 1950’s, it cut through the predominantly African American community of West Oakland, dividing the community in half, displacing 600 families, and uprooting hundreds of businesses. Residents were then exposed to air and noise pollution from heavy traffic of the freeway overhead. The neighborhood experiences continued economic decline after the construction of the freeway.
US Dept of Transportation. Cypress Freeway Replacement Project: California Department of Transportation. Prepared for the US Dept. of Transportation, the Federal Highway Administration, and the Federal Transit Administration. Available at: http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/environment/ejustice/case/case5.htm. Accessed on August 29, 2009.