Dr. Mirvis is the Editor-in-Chief of this journal and Professor of Radiology, Diagnostic Imaging Department, University of Maryland Medical Center, Baltiimore, MD.

The editorial goal of Applied Radiology is, of course, to discuss issues of direct concern to medicine and radiology without the discourse straying into matters of the human condition. Sometimes these topics are inexorably linked, so I will take some liberty here.

There is a season for trauma, at least in any place that has something resembling distinct seasons like Baltimore. In saying this, I am excluding mountain resorts in the ski season, which, of course, have a wave of activity when the sport is "in season"--a whole year's worth of business in the case of some orthopedic practices perhaps. The trauma season does not come with the onset of spring, but it has a temperature lag just like the weather seasons. In Baltimore, the real trauma season begins in June and continues until sometime in September. Many people that I've told about this seem to be a bit incredulous and confused by such a phenomenon. But every year as we plot our admissions to the trauma center, we find the same pattern.

Undoubtedly, the temperature and humidity have a great deal to do with creating this fluctuating volume of cases. When people are hot and sweaty, they drink more alcohol, they drive faster, they tend to exhibit more aggressive behavior, they work and play outside more, and they are just plain feistier. After being cooped up for the winter with its dreariness and cold, they begin to feel alive and re-energized. To celebrate the arrival of the warmer and longer days, they strive more to live in the moment. Unfortunately, living in the moment usually means more risk-taking behavior, often in or on a motor vehicle (car, motorcycle, boat, etc.). Put all this together and you get the trauma season. In this season, baseball bats are the assault weapons of choice after knives and guns. Out of season, it is the trusty and low-tech snow-shovel. The force of motor-vehicle collisions and the resulting injuries occurring in-season reflects, on average, a much higher kinetic energy exchange than those out of season.

None of us is completely immune to the effects of the season. I was recently driving in my midlife-crisis sports car (really bought just for looks) on the New Jersey Turnpike. Out of nowhere, I was suddenly challenged to a drag race by a turbo-charged, modified sports car driven by a teenaged boy and his "dying to be impressed" date. They were quite persistent, despite my obvious middle-aged appearance and clear lack of enthusiasm to accept the challenge. You see, I know it's the season. I understand something of what life might feel like as a quadriplegic. I know that one can die when behaving like a moron. What I wished I could do was to communicate this clear insight somehow to my newly acquired nemeses, to impart this profound truth, You can die or be severely injured and live in constant agony or, worse, kill some innocent person by behaving like a jerk. Even if you are not stupid, but smart, rich, and good-looking, trauma can certainly find you and ruin your life. Why make it easy? Alas, I had no means to get this message across. Instead, I threw a gentle kiss to the young lady in the passenger's seat and waved bye-bye. She responded with a universally understood digital gesture and they moved along to find another victim to play with.

I do not think our society does nearly enough to deter this kind of behavior. We all share the "it can never happen to me" attitude, and thus we see the resulting carnage on the highways and back roads every day. Perhaps we can do more. Driver education students come to visit our trauma center regularly to get just a feel of what it might be like to be severely injured. A more lasting impression might be made on these students if they listen to and see their own peers who have survived major traumas. Cancer may someday be cured, as will most infectious diseases probably, but, sadly, physicians treating trauma patients will always have job security.