Road-Traffic Accidents - A Demographic and Topographic Analysis

Abstract

Injuries and fatalities occur in all forms of transportation, but numerically, road-traffic accidents account for the great majority worldwide. There is little that the autopsy surgeon can contribute to the elucidation of factors leading to the accident as it is largely the circumstantial and forensic laboratory evidence which is likely to reveal a non-accidental cause. However, the doctor's role in detecting the compatibility/incompatibility of the injuries with those usually sustained in traffic accidents (to detect any which are 'atypical', e.g. focal depressed fracture of the skull), distinguishing antemortem from postmortem injuries, demonstrating the presence of any disease capable of creating sudden incapacity and analysing samples for alcohol/drugs, etc., can go a long way in assigning roles to the human and to some extent vehicular and environmental factors. This warrants that a meticulous autopsy be conducted and not merely a catalogue of injuries. It must be appreciated that a fatal accident is likely to result in litigation and the extent of litigation cannot be anticipated at the time of the autopsy. One must, therefore, aim at the close study of any accident victim and a careful assessment of the case is always rewarding. The present study was undertaken in the Department of Forensic Medicine at (a) Government Medical College, Jammu (1991-93), (b) Mulana Azad Medical College, New Delhi (1993-95) and (c) Government Medical College, Chandigarh (1994-June 2000), with the object of doing a comparative analysis of the various aspects of the road-traffic accidents and accidental deaths in three topographically and demographically different cities in India and to suggest remedial measures to bring down the accident rate.

Features of Traffic Accidents Occurred in Aydin Province between 2005 and 2011

“…It has been stated that traffic accidents are one of the basic causes of death particularly among young population under the age of 50 years and is more prevalent in the age groups that are physically and socially more active. [21] Consistent with the findings reported in the literature, the present study determined that traffic accidents most frequently occurred on off days, in summer and between the hours of 12:01 and 18:00. [5,13,14] This was attributed to heavier traffic at the weekends and in summer days.…”

“…[17] The present study comprised 281 (84.1%) male cases and 53 (15.9%) female cases with a male to female ratio of 5.3, which was consistent with the findings reported in the relevant studies. [13,[18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26] This was attributed to the higher male count in traffic. Studies conducted in Turkey have reported that the cases involved in traffic accidents are predominantly in the young age group.…”

Profile of Medico-legal Injury Cases in a Tertiary Care Hospital in North India

“…Male preponderance with 6.4:1 was also expected and is in line with worldwide trends [10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17] .This trend of male to female ratio depends on the role of females in society.…”

Assessment of dentistry sequelae in civil expertise

“…7 SAI -sexual activity impact corresponds to the total or partial limitation on the level of performance / sexual gratification, resulting from physical and/or psychic sequelae. 8 SLAI -sports and leisure activities impact corresponds to the specific impossibility to the victim to engage in certain leisure activities who exercised regularly and that accounted for her personal gratification. 9 PFD -permanent functional deficit corresponds to the permanent affectation of person's physical and/or psychic integrity.…”

“…Different situations may be appointed as cause, but traffic accidents are the most frequent of them (8). Dental damage is often considered less important in the context of life threatening, sensitive or motion limitation injuries, found in severe accidents, but its valorization should not be neglected (9).…”