Traffic injury prevention
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Traffic injury prevention · Mar 2004
ReviewSide impact crashes--factors affecting incidence and severity: review of the literature.
Many traffic crashes are side impact collisions resulting in significant death and injury. A review was conducted of the evidence of driver, road, and vehicle characteristics affecting either the risk of occurrence or the severity of injury in such crashes for papers published from 1996 to early 2003. For drivers, evidence was found of increased crash risk or injury severity only for age and age-related medical conditions (e.g., dementia). ⋯ The occupants of light trucks, however, when struck by passengers cars on the opposite side, were at higher risk of injury. Wearing seat belts had a consistently protective effect; airbags did not, but there were few studies, and no field studies, of lateral airbags found. Of all the characteristics examined, vehicle design, including occupant restraints, is the most easily modified in the short term, although road design, traffic control, and the monitoring of older drivers may also prove effective in reducing side impact crashes in the longer term.
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The effectiveness of bicycle helmets in preventing head injuries is well documented. There are different opinions about the effectiveness of helmets in preventing face injuries, and few studies have analyzed the effect of different types of helmets. This study was performed to examine the effect of different helmet types to head and face injuries. ⋯ The use of hard shell helmets reduced the risk of getting injuries to the head. Children less than nine years old that used foam helmets had an increased risk of getting face injuries. All bicyclists should be recommended to use hard shell bicycle helmets while cycling.
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Traffic injury prevention · Dec 2003
Pedestrian casualties and fatalities in road traffic crashes in a South African municipality.
A study of the pedestrian casualties and fatalities in road traffic crashes in Durban, a South African municipality, for 1999 was undertaken using official road traffic accident data. The pedestrians age 25 to 44, although only 23.9% of the population, were 39.3% of the casualties and 48.2% of the fatalities. The most vulnerable pedestrians were those 30 to 34 years old who were 6.1% of the population, 11.7% of the casualties, and 14.6% of the fatalities; 35- to 39-year-olds who were 6% of the population, 8.8% of the casualties, and 13.5% of the fatalities; and the 40- to 44-year-olds who were 4.9% of the population, 7.5% of the casualties, and 10.2% of the fatalities. ⋯ Buses, which were involved in 3% of the vehicle-pedestrian crashes, had 951 crashes per 100 million km, 182 casualties per 100 million km, and 11 fatalities per 100 million km. Motorcycles were involved in 1% of the vehicle-pedestrian crashes and had per 100 million km 508 crashes, 192 casualties, and 7 fatalities. There was no statistically significant difference in the monthly distribution of the road traffic crashes.
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Traffic injury prevention · Sep 2003
Head and neck injuries in fatal motorcycle collisions as determined by detailed autopsy.
Detailed layer-by-layer autopsy of the head and neck was performed on a prospective series of 73 fatally injured motorcyclists in order to identify occult injuries, particularly soft tissue neck injuries such as hemorrhage of vertebral and carotid arteries. The fatal cases were gathered as part of a larger study of 1,082 on-scene in-depth motorcycle crash investigations in Thailand. Detailed neck dissection was done on nearly all fatal cases. ⋯ The most significant finding of this study was the identification of serious internal neck injuries despite the absence of external physical evidence of trauma to the neck. Virtually all riders with significant head injuries showed some of these soft tissue neck injuries. Approximately one-third of the critically injured riders who survived at least a few hours before death showed serious occult soft tissue neck injuries.