Study calls for efforts to end car surfing

ROLLING MEADOWS, Ill., July 18 (UPI) -- Three researchers recommend efforts should be made to stop U.S. residents from car surfing, an activity that can lead to serious head injuries.

Researchers Arthur Wang, Alan R. Cohen and Shenandoah Robinson said the number of fatalities from car surfing are increasing in the United States, leading them to suspect the risky activity may be becoming increasingly popular, the American Association of Neurological Surgeons reported in a release Friday.

The researchers investigated seven traumatic head injuries caused by car surfing for their study, along with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's Fatality Analysis Reporting System.

The researchers, who published their "Neurological Injuries from Car Surfing" study, found head injuries suffered from the practice of standing on a moving car's roof can potentially be more serious than head injuries from motor vehicle collisions.

The study, published in the "Journal of Neurosurgery: Pediatrics," found car surfing fatalities have increased in California, Florida and Texas since 2000.

"Efforts directed at prevention are paramount. Educational efforts through community leaders and healthcare providers should be directed toward increasing the awareness of the dangers of this activity," Robinson and Cohen said in the study.