Citation

Toro K, Szilvia F, György D, Pauliukevicius A, Caplinskiene M, Raudys R, Lepik D, Tuusov J, Väli M. J. Forensic Sci. 2011; 56(3): 617-620.

Affiliation

Department of Forensic and Insurance Medicine, Semmelweis University, 1091-Hungary, Budapest, Üllői út 93, Hungary. Institute of Forensic Medicine, Mykolas Romeris University, Didlaukio g. 86E, LT - 08303 Vilnius, Lithuania. Institute of Pathological Anatomy and Forensic Medicine, Tartu University, Úlikooli 18, Tartu, Estonia. Estonian Forensic Science Institute, Párnu mnt 328, Tallinn, Estonia.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2011, American Society for Testing and Materials, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/j.1556-4029.2010.01674.x

PMID

21352227

Abstract

  Motor vehicle accidental injuries are a frequent cause of death among young children and adolescents. The goal of this study was to compare patterns of injury between three capitals (Budapest, Vilnius, and Tallinn). Information on 190 fatal traffic accidents (69 pedestrians, 14 bicyclists, and 107 motor vehicle occupants) between 2002 and 2006 was collected from databases of medico-legal autopsies. The role of victims in accidents, the location of injuries, cause of death, survival period, and blood alcohol levels were evaluated. One-hundred and forty-one (74%) victims had a passive role in traffic as pedestrians, passengers in cars, or public transport. In victims who died at the scene, the rate of head injury was higher than in cases who received medical treatment (odds ratio = 2.58, CI = 1.2-5.55, p = 0.0127). These results underline the importance of postmortem studies to examine the pathomechanism of fatal traffic accidental injuries and to provide information for the prevention of road traffic accidents against children and adolescents.

Language: en