More on Correlating COVID Vax Status with Traffic Risk

I continue to rant about that correlation paper on COVID “vaccine hesitancy” and traffic risk. I leave the statistical critiques to others (and I drop the links below and to my prior post), but the correlation can be rock solid and the conclusion still be completely off. Be careful of the over-interpretation of correlative studies.

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Episode Links

The paper in question:

COVID Vaccine Hesitancy and Risk of a Traffic Crash

Donald A. Redelmeier, MD, FRCPC, MSHSR, FACP

Jonathan Wang, MMASc

Deva Thiruchelvam, MSc

Published: December 02, 2022

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amjmed.2022.11.002

My related post:

Geeking Out: What Does COVID Vaccination Status Have to Do With Motor Vehicle Accident Risk?

The others who did their own analysis and critique

Dr. John Campbell

Norman Fenton on the pedestrian casualties in the data sample: A Study in Stupidity: does the covid vaccine really lower your risk of being in a car accident?

Igor Chudov: The Unvaccinated Had More Car Crashes… Because they Were the Ones Driving!

Dr. Clare Craig: Twitter thread on problems with the study — (she touches on one of the big problems I noticed — the small sample size leading to huge error bars — some of this had really low credibility, which is why they had a stupid “unvaccinated” definition.)

Forbes article from Aug 2021: Canada To Make Proof Of Vaccination Mandatory For Air And Train Travel

April 2021 COVID-19 Advisory for Ontario: A Vaccination Strategy for Ontario COVID-19 Hotspots and Essential Workers – shows many essential workers in Ontario not getting vaccinated

Tyler Vigen’s Spurious Correlations

http://www.tylervigen.com/spurious-correlations

I didn’t talk about this at all, but I like the site.

And a lot of the spurious correlations involve death.

Agatha Christie’s Mr. Parker Pyne

As the Amazon editorial description is a bit inaccurate, let me share one of the reader reviews:

After reading two of Agatha Christie's short stories featuring the very unconventional private investigator, Parker Pyne, I knew I had to read more, so when I came across this collection, I grabbed it.

Pyne relies upon his thirty-five years in a government office compiling statistics to help him solve any case that's presented to him. Some of the short stories revolve around people who respond to his advertisement in The Times, but Pyne also travels to more exotic climes, such as Jordan, Syria, and Iran and finds himself solving puzzles in those countries as well.

Don’t drive like a maniac! Keep safe this holiday season!