Death due to Motor

Vehicles
By: Ferryal Basbeth

Introduction (1)
It is estimated that more than a million persons
worldwide are killed annually as a result of road
traffic accidents and fifteen million are injured.
The financial costs to the communities amount to
more than those for the treatment of any other
major disease.
The number of accidents per car on the roads
varies greatly from country to country.
In the developing countries there are found that
the fatal accident rate per car on the road may
be over one hundred times that seen in
developed countries.

Preface
Introoduction (2)
The most common cause of a fatal motor vehicle
accident in the United States is impairment of the
driver by alcohol, drugs or a combination of
both. These drugs do not have to be drug
abuse, but may be prescribed medications.
As a general rule, at least half of all motor
vehicle operators killed in crashes are under the
influence of alcohol.
At least 15.9% of drivers, in some areas, are
under the influence of marijuana at the time of
the crash

Introduction (3)
The second most common cause of fatal motor
vehicle accideent crashes would be human
factors :
Speed, reckless driving, and falling a sleep at
the wheel.
It is, in fact, usually associated with alcohol
intoxication, which would be the primary cause
of the accident.

Introduction (4)
The third most common cause would be
environmental hazard, such as slick or icy
roads, poorly marked roads, and poor
construction of the roads.
The last would be natural disease, for example,
the individual who collapses at the wheel from a
heart attack, epileptic attacks. These are due to
natural disease.

Introduction (5)
After the pedestrian, the driver of the vehicle is
the most frequent fatality in a road traffic
accident.
Next in frequency is the front-seat passenger,
followed by rear-seat passengers.
Certain areas of the cabin inflict specific injuries.
Thus although autopsy may show that the lethal
injury is similar in both cases, the pattern of
injuries will differ as between the driver and his
front seat passenger.

 In motor vehicle deaths, autopsies are

performed to:

determine the cause of death

confirm that death was due to injuries suffered in
the accident
determine the extent of these injuries
detect any disease or and/factor that could have
precipitated or contributed to the accident and/or
death

In motor vehicle deaths, autopsies are

performed to:
Detect any criminal activity associated with the
death
Document all findings for subsequent use in
either criminal or civil actions
Establish positive identification of the body,
especially if it is burn or severely mutilated

The mechanisms of injury

The distribution and severity of the injuries
sustained by the vehicle occupants in road
traffic accidents will depend upon the various
forces to which they are subjected and the
direction from which they came.
These force will be directly related to the speed
of the impact, whether it be one of single type or
one involving collision with one other vehicles.

The distribution and severity of the injuries will

depend upon :
Where the casualty was seated
The direction of the impact
The design of the cabin
The force of the impact
The behaviour of the vehicle after impact
Whether there was ejection from the vehicle
The use of restraint system;
The intervention of some other hazard such
as fire or the penetration of the cabin by a
rigid object,e.g timber, scaffolding poles, etc.

Injuries to the driver and front-seat

passenger
In 80% of fatal automobile accidents, the impact
is frontal and this applies whether the impact is
between two vehicles or whether it is a single
vehicle collision with some solid obstruction such
as a lamppost, tree or building.
When a forward moving automobile is brought to
an abrupt halt, the unrestrained occupants will
be thrown upwards and forwards until their
progress is arrested by some part of the vehicle
or, if they ejected from the vehicle, by contact
with the ground or some other object.

Suicide by Motor Vehicles (1)

A small percentage of single motor vehicle
accidents are suicides.
Typically, a driver crashes his car head-on into a
fixed object, such as a concrete bridge, an
embankment, or a utility pole.
The individual turn off the road and drives a
significant distance, straight into the object
without using the brakes.
Usually, individuals commiting suicide with a
motor vehicle will have a history of prior suicide
attempts or treatment by a psychiatrist

Suicide by Motor Vehicles (2)

There are probably other suicides in this manner
that go undetected, since the cause of the
accident in such cases is attributed to drinking
or falling asleep at the wheel.
In all suspected cases, one should examine the
soles of the shoes of the driver to see if there
has been transfer of the pedal pattern to the
shoe sole. If the pattern is that of the gas pedal,
then one knows that at the time of impact, the
individual was stii accelerating. This is
confirmatory evidence of a suicide.

Suicide by Motor Vehicles (3)

Occasionally, an accident will occur in which
there were two occupants in a vehicle and in
which only one survived.
Because the individuals were pulled out of the
car or thrown out, one is not sure who was the
driver.
The survivor, even though he may have been
the driver, may claim that the other individual
was driving to avoid legal liability.

Suicide by Motor Vehicles (4)

Therefore, examination of the body, car, and clothing
may be important in deciding who was the actual
driver.
The pattern of injuries, for example, an imprint of a
steering wheel, may tell who the driver was.
In other instances, examination of the car may show
fibers in the broken steering wheel or in the sun visor
that correspond to the clothing of one of the
individuals.
There may be deposits of the blood on the driver`s
side or on the steering wheel which may be typed and
subsequently used to identify who the driver was.

Motor vehicles train accident

Collisions between trains and motor vehicles are
virtually all side impact-type collisions with the
train impacting the side of a vehicle either trying
to cross an intersection before the train or stalled
on the tracks.
The nature of the injuries varies from typical side
and front impact automobile injuries to the more
common non specific pattern of masive
mutilating injuries.
Many of the drivers are, infact, under the
influence of alcohol.

Toxicology in motor vehicle

accidents (1)
In fatal motor vehicle accidents, a complete
toxicologic screen for alcohol and drugs should
be performed on both drivers and passengers.
Test for alcohol alone is not sufficient
Drugs tested for should include alcohol; carbon
monoxide; acid, basic, neutral drugs and
marijuana. In select cases, analysis for opiates
is indicated.
Alcohol will be found in about half of all drivers
killed.

Toxicology in motor vehicle

accidents (2)
At least 10-15 % of drivers will be under the
influence of other drugs, either ilicit or
prescribed.
Drug testing on passengers is recommended for
two reasons:
1. occasionally, a passenger turns out to
have been the driver
2. the presence of a drug and/ or alcoohol in a
passenger often reflects the toxicologic
status of the driver