ROAD TRAFFIC ACCIDENT

Purpose of medico-legal investigation

• To identify the deceased

• To determine the cause of death
• Whether death was due to road traffic accident?
• Whether death was due to rash or negligent act?
• For accident reconstruction
• For identification of the car in hit and run case
• For third party insurance
 Driver
Medical disease
Disability
Alcohol / drugs
Vehicle
Model Pedestrian
Weight Medical disease
Speed Disability
Type Alcohol / drugs
RTA

Road
Environment One way / two way
Day / night Bends
weather Lanes
Traffic junction
Traffic islands
• Dynamics of vehicular injury

• Acceleration or deceleration injury

• Tissue injury produced will depend on
the force applied per unit area
• 60-80% - deceleration injury
• 6% - acceleration injury
• Half of the remainder – sidewipes / roll-
over
• Frontal impact –

• There is never instant arrest of the

vehicle
• Even if run into massive, immobile
structure
• The vehicle deforms from the front
• So that - there is always deceleration
distance and time ‘D’
• Tissue injury – ‘G’ force

• Value of ‘G’ force = C ( V x V ) / D

V = velocity km/hr
D = stopping distance (m)
C = constant (0.0039)
Types of road traffic accident

• Auto-auto accident
• Auto-pedestrian accident
• Auto-cycle accident (motor-cycle,
bicycle, trishaw)
• Auto-train accident
Auto-auto accident

• Head on collision
• Head-to-tail collision
• Broad side collision
• Roll over
• Head-on collision

• In head-on collision, the amount of force involved is

addition of speed of the two automobiles
•.
Driver injury

Frontal impact

• Due to the speed and force of impact the driver will

be moved upwards and forwards.
• Head - will strike against the windscreen or window
frame - abrasions, lacerations, bruises or incised
wounds due to broken windscreen, or fracture skull
• Face – strike against wind screen, glass injury
‘V’ shaped - ‘sparrow-foot’ mark
The chest
• steering wheel injury
• fractures of sternum and ribs
• the heart may be torn asunder
• bruising and laceration of both lungs
• haemothorax,
• Abdomen - rupture of liver,spleen,haemoperitoneum.
• Wrist, Forearm, Arm,
• Pelvis, thighs, legs, foot
• Ejection through the wind screen ( dangerous ) 5x
Rear impact-

• Driver is accelerated – hyperextension of the neck

followed by hyper flexion – ‘whiplash’ injury of
the cervical spine – C spine fracture
• Whiplash injury of T spine
• rupture of Aorta at the arch and descending
• step ladder tear in intima

Side impact – (+) ejected through side door

Front seat passenger ( lover seat )

• Most dangerous position

• No steering wheel injury
• More prone to ejection as no steering
wheel
• More head injury
• Back seat passenger

• More safe as compared with front seat

• Impact with front seat
• Can eject through wind screen
Air Bag
Seat belt

• Simple lap-strap
• Diagonal
• Diagonal + Lap-strap
• Shoulder harness
Prevent –head injury, eye injury
extending deceleration time and
distance
Cause – trapped in burning car
- child and small lady – slipped
- obese and pregnant – liver, ut, fetus
- breast injury
- lap-strap = bladder, mesentery,
L spine, aorta, caecum
Auto to cycle accident

Cyclist injury

• Head injury – ‘hinge’ fracture

ring fracture
‘tail-gating’ injury - decapitation
• All part of the body
 Auto-pedestrian accident

• Primary impact injuries

• Secondary impact injuries
• Secondary injuries

Primary impact injuries

• the initial impact of the car and the pedestrian
Secondary impact injuries
• Second time impact of the car and the pedestrian
Secondary injuries
• Striking with the ground
• The height of the various injuries from the ground - in
identifying the vehicle and should always be recorded,
(injury-heel height)
• imprint type of abrasion
• Primary impact injuries are usually found at the site
contra-lateral to secondary injuries.

absence because of
• Thick layer of intervening clothes.
• May occur in areas such as soft and yielding anterior
abdominal wall.
• Some protruding part of the car may have caught on
with the victim's clothes
Secondary injuries

• commonest being an injury to the head

• usually multiple, in the form of
abrasions and grazes
• contaminated with dirt, or debris
• Secondary injuries are usually found on
the side contra-lateral to primary
impact injuries.
 Pedestrian Injuries

Primary injuries are caused by the first impact of the vehicle on the victim, while
secondary injuries are caused by subsequent contact with the ground
Run over injuries

• Run over injury on the head

• Run over injury on the chest
• Run over injuries abdomen
• Run- over injury on the limb
Examination of victim
Examination of the clothing
• (i) Look for presence of greases and tears
• (ii) Look for any grease stain, oil stain, dirt, and
presence of any foreign body like paint, and
broken pieces of glass.

Examination of the body

• (i) Height of the victim
• (ii) Type of each injury with full description
• (iii) Any special characteristics of each injury such
as shape, size and direction
• The height of any injury above heel
• Presence of any foreign body
Presence of disability in victim

• artificial eye, corneal opacity, cataract or presence of

hearing aid, any defect in locomotive system of the
victim, which may be the cause of the accident.
• The presence of disability will lessen the liability of
the driver.
• In all fatal accidents, blood and urine samples from
the victim for alcohol should be estimated.
Homicidal traffic death

• Racial hatred – relatively high speed

• To conceal crime – faking of MVA

Suicidal traffic death

• Driving at speed to solid obstruction

• Driving at speed to oncoming path