Having a Passenger Reduces Driver’s Risk of Death in Crash, Researchers Say

Southern Californians are notoriously resistant to carpooling. Now comes a study that suggests cruising solo could be hazardous to your health.

Researchers at the General Motors Research and Development Center in Warren, Mich., looked at crash information involving head-on collisions, in which at least one of the drivers was killed and in which one car had a driver and a front passenger and the other had only a driver. The information was compiled by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration from 1975 to 1998.

Based on information from more than 3,000 accidents, researchers found that if a driver adds a passenger, his or her risk of death decreases by 7.5% while the risk to the passengerless driver increases by 8.1%.

Consequently, researchers concluded, adding mass in the form of passengers reduces a driver’s risk of death. Of course, if you still can’t bring yourself to share your wheels with someone else, you could always add mass another way. Maybe by putting a box of bricks in the front seat.