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Obese drivers are more likely to die in collisions than motorists and passengers of normal weight, according to a new study.

Research shows people that are overweight and obese are propelled further forward during a collision because of their additional soft tissue which prevents a seat belt from tightening immediately against the pelvis, according to the study released online Monday in the BMJ Group's Emergency Medicine Journal.

The researchers examined data from the U.S. Fatality Analysis Reporting System from 1996 to 2008. In that period, 57,491 collisions in the nation were submitted.

The study used the World Health Organization definition of obese, which is a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or higher.

"The ability of passenger vehicles to protect overweight or obese occupants may have increasingly important public health implications, given the continuing obesity epidemic in the USA," the authors said in a statement.

In the United States, more than a third of U.S. adults,  35.7% , are obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Some 16.9% of U.S. children and adolescents are obese.

"Findings from this study suggest that obese vehicle drivers are more likely to die from traffic collision-related injuries than non-obese occupants involved in the same collision.

"Education is needed to improve seat belt use among obese people."

The authors, from the University of California and the University of West Virginia, published their findings in the Emergency Medicine Journal.