Objective: Traffic accidents are one of the leading causes of premature death worldwide.
The current study aimed to present data on patients who died as a result of traffic accidents and offer suggestions on issues that affect traffic safety.
Materials and Methods: In our study, data pertaining to 422 road accident cases whose postmortem examinations and autopsies were conducted in Elazig within a period of five years were evaluated with regard to age, gender, the day, and season on which the accident took place, the location of the accident, the role of the deceased in traffic (pedestrian, driver, or passenger), whether an autopsy was done, the state of safety measures, the presence of alcohol and opiates-stimulants, the place of death, duration of hospitalization, and cause of death.
Results: Three hundred twenty-two of the 422 subjects in our study (76.3%) were male and 100 (23.7%) female, with a mean age of 43.5 (23.9) years. One hundred seventy-seven of the cases (41.9%) were pedestrians, and accidents most frequently occurred during the summer season, with 161 (38.2%) cases. It was determined that an autopsy was performed on 388 (91.9%) of the cases, that 16.9% of the drivers had consumed alcohol, 260 (61.6%) of the cases died in the hospital, and head injuries were the most common cause of death.
Conclusion: It was concluded that in order to prevent traffic accidents, traffic control and checks should become more frequent during holiday periods, such as the summer season and necessary measures should be taken for pedestrian safety, and that encouraging the use of vehicle safety systems should largely reduce injuries and deaths from traffic accidents.
Key words: Traffic Accidents; Autopsy; Forensic Medicine.
|
