Citation

Luchini D, Sammicheli M, Cortucci C. Am. J. Forensic Med. Pathol. 2013; 34(3): 177-180.

Affiliation

From the *Department of Legal Medicine, University of Siena, Siena; and †Department of Juridical and Legal Sciences, University of Camerino (MC), Camerino, Italy.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2013, Lippincott Williams and Wilkins)

DOI

10.1097/PAF.0b013e3182518cdb

PMID

23756417

Abstract

Seat belts have been shown to decrease the incidence of lethal lesions to the head, chest, and abdomen. Since the introduction of seat belts, it is reported that the incidence of traumatic lesions in these body parts is reduced. In the meantime, the characteristic lesions to the chest and abdomen caused by the use of seat belts are described (J Trauma. 2007;62(6):1473-1480. Reported is a peculiar case of an oblique front-to-rear car collision, in which overloading of the rear seat with packages pushed forward the passenger front seat in an abnormal way, causing fatal thoracic and abdominal lesions. The authors underline that the seat belt protection device is defeated if front seats are damaged by heavy un-anchored bags on the rear seat or on the rear parcel shelf of a motor vehicle.

Language: en