Leon S Robertson
Biographic Data
| ID | 155704 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Leon S Robertson |
| GIVEN NAMES | Leon S |
| FAMILY NAME | Robertson |
| SIGNATURE | ROBERTSON L S |
| AFFILIATIONS | Yale University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-1206-4496 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 54 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 150 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 54 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1966 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2021 |
| H-INDEX | 7 |
Association of Covid-19 mortality with politics and on-demand testing in 217 U.S. counties
Apparently, many people who test negative for the SARS-CoV-2 virus engage in activities that increase their risk, a problem likely to increase with the availability of home tests. There is no association of negative tests with the Trump vote but, according to polling data, Trump voters' past resistance to public health recommendations has been extended to resistance to being vaccinated, threatening the goal of herd immunity
Predictors of Covid-19-Confirmed Cases and Fatalities in 883 US Counties with a Population of 50,000 or More: Estimated Effect of Initial Prevention Policies
Motor Vehicle CO2 Emissions in the United States: Potential Behavioral Feedback and Global Warming
The previously found correlation of average annual temperature and motor vehicle travel among U.S. states suggests amplifying feedback of increased carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and warming. This study employed a regression model relating average annual temperature to motor vehicle CO2 emissions among the 48 contiguous states, controlling for other factors that affect travel. Increased emissions were associated with higher temperatures during 20…
Science and Public Health Principles Used to Reduce Road Deaths
An editorial in a previous issue of this journal falsely claims that the US government’s efforts to reduce road fatalities are not based on science. It says that, as a result, the United States has fallen behind other countries in road death prevention. A large body of research and evaluation informed federal and state safety programs from the outset. Evans’s comparisons of death trends among countries without adjustment for changes in relevant r…
Robertson Responds
Blood and Oil: Vehicle Characteristics in Relation to Fatality Risk and Fuel Economy
I examined the potential for a lower risk of death compatible with increased fuel economy among 67 models of 1999–2002 model year cars, vans, and sport-utility vehicles (SUVs) during the calendar years 2000 to 2004. The odds of death for drivers and all persons killed in vehicle collisions were related to vehicle weight, size, stability, and crashworthiness. I calculated that fatality rates would have been 28% lower and fuel use would have been r…
Alcohol and fatal crashes among American Indians
Alcohol and fatal crashes among American Indians. L S Robertson Doug Campos-Outcalt CopyRight https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.89.8.1270 Published Online: October 07, 2011
Causal webs, preventive brooms, and housekeepers
The concept of causal webs, which emphasises complex multiple causation of disease and injury, diverts attention and resources from preventive brooms that can sweep away the webs to reduce harm despite multiple causation. Epidemiologists who focus primarily on specification of causal paths in webs may overlook the modifiable necessary conditions for disease and injury. Necessary causes for disease and injury and necessary conditions for preventio…
Motor vehicle rollover and static stability: An exposure study
OBJECTIVES: This study examined vehicle rollovers in terms of site-specific exposure and speeds of vehicles of varying stability. METHODS: Fifty-one rollover sites in two states were visited at the same time of day and day of week as the rollover. A sample of vehicles moving in the same direction as the rollover were observed, and vehicle-specific data were obtained from identification numbers. RESULTS: Low stability, exacerbated by the addition …
Mistaken assertions on reducing motor vehicle injury
Mistaken assertions on reducing motor vehicle injury. L S RobertsonCopyRight https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.87.2.295 Published Online: October 07, 2011
Reducing death on the road: The effects of minimum safety standards, publicized crash tests, seat belts, and alcohol
OBJECTIVES. Two phases of attempts to improve passenger car crash worthiness have occurred: minimum safety standards and publicized crash tests. This study evaluated these attempts, as well as changes in seat belt and alcohol use, in terms of their effect on occupant death and fatal crash rates. METHODS. Data on passenger car occupant fatalities and total involvement in fatal crashes, for 1975 through 1991, were obtained from the Fatal Accident R…
Self-reports yield invalid results on seat belt use
Self-reports yield invalid results on seat belt use. L S Robertson Aryeh D. Stein, Ruth I. Lederman, and Steven Shea CopyRight https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.84.9.1525 Published Online: October 07, 2011
Health care reform and health outcomes
Health care reform and health outcomes. L S RobertsonCopyRight https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.84.10.1566 Published Online: October 07, 2011
Size, not mass, of car affects severity of injury in accidents
Size, not mass, of car affects severity of injury in accidents. L S RobertsonCopyRight https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.83.5.769 Published Online: October 07, 2011
The effect of legal drinking age on fatal injuries of adolescents and young adults
This study examined the effect of legal drinking age (LDA) on fatal injuries in persons aged 15 to 24 years in the United States between 1979 and 1984. Effects on pre-LDA teens, adolescents targeted by LDA, initiation at LDA, and post-LDA drinking experience were assessed. A higher LDA was also associated with reduced death rates for motor vehicle drivers, pedestrians, unintentional injuries excluding motor vehicle injuries, and suicide. An initi…
Car design and risk of pedestrian deaths
Fatal pedestrian injury rates by cars with relatively sharp front-corner designs were compared to such rates by cars of similar-size with relatively smooth front-corner designs. The relative risk of death by front-corner impact was 26 percent greater among the sharp-cornered cars. Pedestrian death rates from impact with other points on the cars and insurance claim frequencies among the studied cars were similar between the two sets of cars
Risk of fatal rollover in utility vehicles relative to static stability
The risk of fatal rollover of utility vehicles per 100,000 registered vehicles relative to cars during 1982-87 was strongly correlated to the static stability of the vehicles. Distance between the center of the tires divided by twice the height of center of gravity explained 62 per cent of the variation in fatal rollover rates where rollover was the first harmful event. Statistical controls for 20 major risk factors indicated no correlations that…
Occupational injury trends
Occupational injury trends. L S RobertsonCopyRight https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.78.8.988 Published Online: October 07, 2011
(Weight x speed) + instability = hazardous trucks
Weight x speed) + instability = hazardous trucks. L S RobertsonCopyRight https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.78.5.486 Published Online: October 07, 2011
The meaning of healthy public policy
SYLVIA TESH, CAROLYN TUOHY, TOM CHRISTOFFEL, TREVOR HANCOCK, JUDY NORSIGIAN, ELENA NIGHTINGALE, LEON ROBERTSON; The meaning of healthy public policy, Healt
Rejoinder from Roberston
mechanical or socioeconomic factors relating death rate to car age will be largely captured by the regulation vari- able. Due to this heavy contamination of the regulation variable with age ef- fects and the absence of a meaningful age variable, Robertson's new specification is more suspect than his previous one. In the Policy Sciences paper cited favorably by Robertson,3 John Graham shows that entering an explicit age vari- able, with calendar y…
Automobile safety regulation: Rebuttal and new data
A respecification of the regression model applied to additional data results in an estimate of about 45,000 lives preserved by regulations during 1975-78, similar to my previous estimates, and 105,000 lives during 1975-1982. The model allows for introduction of new regulations after 1968 and increased compliance. This result is similar to estimates obtained by several investigators using a variety of methods
Insurance incentives and seat belt use
In 1983, Nationwide Insurance Company increased compensation payments for its clients injured or killed in a motor vehicle crash while using a seat belt. A survey of belt use was undertaken in the month after all those so insured had been informed of the change. Belt use by drivers insured by Nationwide was not significantly different from that of drivers insured by other companies. The incentive appears to have had no apparent effect on belt use
Abortion and infant mortality before and after the 1973 US Supreme Court decision on abortion
The fifty states of the US were compared in 1971–72 and 1974–75 with respect to percentage apparent conceptions aborted and infant mortality rates attributed to various causes. Only non-vehicle accidental deaths were consistently related to abortion. The correlation is non-linear; non-vehicle accidental deaths were especially high in states with little or no abortion. A decline in non-vehicle accidental deaths from before to after the Supreme Cou…
Automobile safety regulations and death reductions in the United States
The effectiveness of federal automobile safety standards was examined using detailed data on 236,000 vehicles in fatal crashes in the United States during 1975-1978. Controlling statistically for type of regulation, types of vehicles, and ages of vehicles, the federal motor vehicle safety standards were associated with substantial reductions in car occupant death per 100 million vehicle miles travelled, and some reductions in fatal collisions of …
Crash involvement of teenaged drivers when driver education is eliminated from high school
In 1976, Connecticut eliminated state funding for high school driver education and nine school systems dropped the courses from their high school curricula. This research examined the effect of this action on overall licensure of 16-17 year old drivers in communities that dropped the course to those in similar sized communities that retained the driver education course using local funds. Substantial reductions in the numbers of 16-17 year olds wh…
A controlled study of the effect of television messages on safety belt use
A controlled study of the effect of television messages on safety belt use. L S Robertson, A B Kelley, B O'Neill, C W Wixom, R S Eiswirth, and W Haddon, JrCopyRight https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.64.11.1071 Published Online: October 07, 2011
Driver education and fatal crash involvement of teenaged drivers
Fatal crash involvement of teenagers per licensed driver and per population in 27 states was related to the proportions of teenagers who received high school driver education. Among 16--17 year olds, driver education was associated with a great increase in the number of licensed drivers, without a decrease in the fatal crash involvement per 10,000 licensed drivers- About 80 per cent of the 16--17 year olds who took high school driver education ob…
An Instance of Effective Legal Regulation: Motorcyclist Helmet and Daytime Headlamp Laws
Motorcycles are involved in fatal crashes far in excess of their share of motor vehicle mileage or registrations. Although their annual mileage per vehicle is less than half that of cars (Federal Highway Administration, 1974), and they were only 3.7 percent of registered motor vehicles in the U.S. in 1974, their riders accounted for 6.8 percent of motor vehicle fatalities (National Safety Council, 1975). A study of vehicle sizes in fatal crashes …
Factors Associated with Observed Safety Belt Use
Death and injury in motor vehicle crashes can be greatly reduced by the use of safety belts. Studies based on claimed use result in inflated estimates of use and questionable correlations with social and other factors. This study of visually observed driver's use or nonuse of safety belts found education, comfort and convenience ratings of safety belts, having had a friend injured in a crash, and not smoking while driving to be additively associa…
Jail Sentences for Driving While Intoxicated in Chicago: A Judicial Policy that Failed
Excessive drinking is involved in over one-half of the motor vehicle associated fatalities in the United States (Department of Transportation, 1968). Various means have been suggested, and some tried, to curb these losses. In only a few cases have countermeasures against driving while intoxicated been subjected to scientifically acceptable evaluation as to effectiveness.In one such study, Barmack and Payne (1964b) used an information program with…
The effect of legal drinking age on fatal injuries of adolescents and young adults
This study examined the effect of legal drinking age (LDA) on fatal injuries in persons aged 15 to 24 years in the United States between 1979 and 1984. Effects on pre-LDA teens, adolescents targeted by LDA, initiation at LDA, and post-LDA drinking experience were assessed. A higher LDA was also associated with reduced death rates for motor vehicle drivers, pedestrians, unintentional injuries excluding motor vehicle injuries, and suicide. An initi…
Automobile safety regulations and death reductions in the United States
The effectiveness of federal automobile safety standards was examined using detailed data on 236,000 vehicles in fatal crashes in the United States during 1975-1978. Controlling statistically for type of regulation, types of vehicles, and ages of vehicles, the federal motor vehicle safety standards were associated with substantial reductions in car occupant death per 100 million vehicle miles travelled, and some reductions in fatal collisions of …
Behavioral research and strategies in public health: A demur
Reducing death on the road: The effects of minimum safety standards, publicized crash tests, seat belts, and alcohol
OBJECTIVES. Two phases of attempts to improve passenger car crash worthiness have occurred: minimum safety standards and publicized crash tests. This study evaluated these attempts, as well as changes in seat belt and alcohol use, in terms of their effect on occupant death and fatal crash rates. METHODS. Data on passenger car occupant fatalities and total involvement in fatal crashes, for 1975 through 1991, were obtained from the Fatal Accident R…
Risk of fatal rollover in utility vehicles relative to static stability
The risk of fatal rollover of utility vehicles per 100,000 registered vehicles relative to cars during 1982-87 was strongly correlated to the static stability of the vehicles. Distance between the center of the tires divided by twice the height of center of gravity explained 62 per cent of the variation in fatal rollover rates where rollover was the first harmful event. Statistical controls for 20 major risk factors indicated no correlations that…
Fatal pedestrian collisions: Driver negligence
Fatal pedestrian collisions: driver negligence. S P Baker, L S Robertson, and B O'NeillCopyRight https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.64.4.318 Published Online: October 07, 2011
The buzzer-light reminder system and safety belt use
The buzzer-light reminder system and safety belt use. L S Robertson, and W Haddon, JrCopyRight https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.64.8.814 Published Online: October 07, 2011
On the intraurban ecology of primary care physicians
Blood and Oil: Vehicle Characteristics in Relation to Fatality Risk and Fuel Economy
I examined the potential for a lower risk of death compatible with increased fuel economy among 67 models of 1999–2002 model year cars, vans, and sport-utility vehicles (SUVs) during the calendar years 2000 to 2004. The odds of death for drivers and all persons killed in vehicle collisions were related to vehicle weight, size, stability, and crashworthiness. I calculated that fatality rates would have been 28% lower and fuel use would have been r…
(Weight x speed) + instability = hazardous trucks
Weight x speed) + instability = hazardous trucks. L S RobertsonCopyRight https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.78.5.486 Published Online: October 07, 2011
Automobile safety regulation: Rebuttal and new data
A respecification of the regression model applied to additional data results in an estimate of about 45,000 lives preserved by regulations during 1975-78, similar to my previous estimates, and 105,000 lives during 1975-1982. The model allows for introduction of new regulations after 1968 and increased compliance. This result is similar to estimates obtained by several investigators using a variety of methods
Estimates of motor vehicle seat belt effectiveness and use: Implications for occupant crash protection
Estimates of the effectiveness of seat belts, when used, in reducing motor vehicle occupant deaths vary widely. A recently publicized claim by one analyst that seat belts reduce vehicle occupant deaths 70-80 per cent is based on studies found to contain fundamental systematic error. Deaths occur only 50 per cent less often to belted compared to nonbelted vehicle occupants in crashes, according to previously unanalyzed data from three U.S. states …
Children's Understanding of Social Interaction
Predictors of Covid-19-Confirmed Cases and Fatalities in 883 US Counties with a Population of 50,000 or More: Estimated Effect of Initial Prevention Policies
Car design and risk of pedestrian deaths
Fatal pedestrian injury rates by cars with relatively sharp front-corner designs were compared to such rates by cars of similar-size with relatively smooth front-corner designs. The relative risk of death by front-corner impact was 26 percent greater among the sharp-cornered cars. Pedestrian death rates from impact with other points on the cars and insurance claim frequencies among the studied cars were similar between the two sets of cars
Fact and fancy in the formation of public policy
Fact and fancy in the formation of public policy. L S RobertsonCopyRight https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.70.6.627 Published Online: October 07, 2011
Factors Associated with Safety Belt Use in 1974 Starter-Interlock Equipped Cars
Interview data were obtained from 394 drivers whose safety belt use or non-use had been observed in 1974 cars equipped with a starter-interlock system linked to belts and seat sensors. Belt-use was not related to education, race, comfort-convenience ratings of belts, or having had a friend injured but not killed in a crash - factors that had been found related to belt use in previous research on earlier model cars not equipped with starter-interl…
Causal webs, preventive brooms, and housekeepers
The concept of causal webs, which emphasises complex multiple causation of disease and injury, diverts attention and resources from preventive brooms that can sweep away the webs to reduce harm despite multiple causation. Epidemiologists who focus primarily on specification of causal paths in webs may overlook the modifiable necessary conditions for disease and injury. Necessary causes for disease and injury and necessary conditions for preventio…
Size, not mass, of car affects severity of injury in accidents
Size, not mass, of car affects severity of injury in accidents. L S RobertsonCopyRight https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.83.5.769 Published Online: October 07, 2011
Distributive Justice and Informal Organization in a Freight Warehouse Work Crew
It is generally accepted that formal division of labor is a function of increase in organizational size, which requires that activities be coordinated. While this is undoubtedly true in many situations, there are organizations of considerable size in which varied tasks are not formally differentiated, possibly because the flow of work is not conducive to assignment of permanent tasks or because managers have not perceived a need for refined divis…
Race, Status and Medical Care
The clinic habit
Perceived parental expressivity, reaction to stress, and affiliation
The Types of Families That Use an Emergency Clinic
Alpert, Joel J. M.D.; Kosa, John Ph.D.; Haggerty, Robert J. M.D.; Robertson, Leon Ph.D.; Heagarty, Margaret C. M.D. Author Information
Children's Understanding of Social Interaction
Attitudes and satisfactions of low-income families receiving comprehensive pediatric care
Attitudes and satisfactions of low-income families receiving comprehensive pediatric care. J J Alpert, J Kosa, R J Haggerty, L S Robertson, and M C HeagartyCopyRight https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.60.3.499 Published Online: August 29, 2011
On the intraurban ecology of primary care physicians
A Study of House Calls in the Practices of General Practitioners
The literature pertaining to house calls has been reviewed. An attempt has been made to define some of the underlying factors that influence the decisionmaking process of a sample of general practitioners in making house calls. The percentage of house call contacts was significantly higher for persons receiving fragmented care, severely ill patients, the elderly, and for persons with emotionally charged diagnoses. In the majority of house calls, …
Factors Associated with Observed Safety Belt Use
Death and injury in motor vehicle crashes can be greatly reduced by the use of safety belts. Studies based on claimed use result in inflated estimates of use and questionable correlations with social and other factors. This study of visually observed driver's use or nonuse of safety belts found education, comfort and convenience ratings of safety belts, having had a friend injured in a crash, and not smoking while driving to be additively associa…
Jail Sentences for Driving While Intoxicated in Chicago: A Judicial Policy that Failed
Excessive drinking is involved in over one-half of the motor vehicle associated fatalities in the United States (Department of Transportation, 1968). Various means have been suggested, and some tried, to curb these losses. In only a few cases have countermeasures against driving while intoxicated been subjected to scientifically acceptable evaluation as to effectiveness.In one such study, Barmack and Payne (1964b) used an information program with…
Fatal pedestrian collisions: Driver negligence
Fatal pedestrian collisions: driver negligence. S P Baker, L S Robertson, and B O'NeillCopyRight https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.64.4.318 Published Online: October 07, 2011
The buzzer-light reminder system and safety belt use
The buzzer-light reminder system and safety belt use. L S Robertson, and W Haddon, JrCopyRight https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.64.8.814 Published Online: October 07, 2011
A controlled study of the effect of television messages on safety belt use
A controlled study of the effect of television messages on safety belt use. L S Robertson, A B Kelley, B O'Neill, C W Wixom, R S Eiswirth, and W Haddon, JrCopyRight https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.64.11.1071 Published Online: October 07, 2011
Biology and Social Behavior
Genetic Fix
Behavioral research and strategies in public health: A demur
Factors Associated with Safety Belt Use in 1974 Starter-Interlock Equipped Cars
Interview data were obtained from 394 drivers whose safety belt use or non-use had been observed in 1974 cars equipped with a starter-interlock system linked to belts and seat sensors. Belt-use was not related to education, race, comfort-convenience ratings of belts, or having had a friend injured but not killed in a crash - factors that had been found related to belt use in previous research on earlier model cars not equipped with starter-interl…
The Great Seat Belt Campaign Flop
Journal Article The Great Seat Belt Campaign Flop Get access Leon S. Robertson Leon S. Robertson 1Leon S Robertson is a member of the Research Department of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Journal of Communication, Volume 26, Issue 4, December 1976, Pages 41–45, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1460-2466.1976.tb01934.x Published: 07 February 2006
Estimates of motor vehicle seat belt effectiveness and use: Implications for occupant crash protection
Estimates of the effectiveness of seat belts, when used, in reducing motor vehicle occupant deaths vary widely. A recently publicized claim by one analyst that seat belts reduce vehicle occupant deaths 70-80 per cent is based on studies found to contain fundamental systematic error. Deaths occur only 50 per cent less often to belted compared to nonbelted vehicle occupants in crashes, according to previously unanalyzed data from three U.S. states …
A Comment on Biosocial Theories of Aggression
An Instance of Effective Legal Regulation: Motorcyclist Helmet and Daytime Headlamp Laws
Motorcycles are involved in fatal crashes far in excess of their share of motor vehicle mileage or registrations. Although their annual mileage per vehicle is less than half that of cars (Federal Highway Administration, 1974), and they were only 3.7 percent of registered motor vehicles in the U.S. in 1974, their riders accounted for 6.8 percent of motor vehicle fatalities (National Safety Council, 1975). A study of vehicle sizes in fatal crashes …
Medical Sociology: A General Systems Approach
Speculation Versus Fact: Reply to the Cohens
The comment by the Cohens on my article, “An Instance of Effective Legal Regulation” (1976), consists mainly of speculation about the fatality distributions and questions regarding the adequacy of the statistical models that I used to test for deviation from random fluctuation. Such speculation is unwarranted, and particularly so when the issue is public policy affecting human life. A point by point examination of the Cohens' comments indicates t…
Driver education and fatal crash involvement of teenaged drivers
Fatal crash involvement of teenagers per licensed driver and per population in 27 states was related to the proportions of teenagers who received high school driver education. Among 16--17 year olds, driver education was associated with a great increase in the number of licensed drivers, without a decrease in the fatal crash involvement per 10,000 licensed drivers- About 80 per cent of the 16--17 year olds who took high school driver education ob…
Medicine (40 works) · Environmental health (25 works) · Poison control (21 works) · Psychology (19 works) · Engineering (18 works) · Injury prevention (18 works) · Occupational safety and health (17 works) · Political science (17 works) · Sociology (15 works) · Suicide prevention (14 works)