According to new research published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, individuals who are less educated or make less money are more likely to die in car crashes when compared with more affluent victims. The research explored socioeconomic data as it related to motor vehicle deaths between 1995 and 2010.

For individuals age 25 and beyond, who have less than a high school diploma, for example, their likelihood of passing away in a traffic accident increased over time. In 1995 the death rates for the individuals with the lowest amount of education hovered around two and a half times higher than their wealthier counterparts.

In 2010, however, that skyrocketed to 4.3 times higher. Mortality data was taken from the National Center for Health Statistics to examine against car population data from the US census. There are numerous factors that may contribute to the fact that individuals with lesser education or means are more likely to be injured in an accident.

This is because there are fewer traffic signs in low income neighborhoods as well as poor infrastructure. Individuals in impoverished neighborhoods also tended to rely on alternate travel types like bicycling, bus travel and walking which could make them even more vulnerable to critical injuries in car accidents.