Fatal traffic accidents and forensic medicine

AbstractIn the event of a traffic accident fatality, the death is reported as an “unusual death,” an inquest is conducted, and, if necessary, a forensic autopsy is performed to prove any causal relationship between the accident and the death, identify the vehicle at fault, and determine the cause of the accident. A forensic autopsy of a traffic accident fatality needs to both determine the cause of death and identify the mechanism of injury, an analytical task that requires observation of three major traffic accident factors: the body, the vehicles involved, and the scene of the accident. Also crucial to determining the cause of death is the process of looking into whether the people involved in the accident had any diseases that might affect their driving performance or were under the influence of alcohol or drugs. In order to reduce the number of people killed in traffic accidents, it will be important to promote joint research uniting forensic medicine, clinical medicine, automotive engineering, and road engineering, take measures to limit the impact of inebriated pedestrians and pedestrians suffering from dementia, and ensure proper screening of alcohol and illegal drug consumption in drivers

Number of injuries caused by traffic collisions by region for the January 2018 to June 2022 period.

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Number of injuries from traffic collisions in prefectures with high population density from January 2018 to June 2022.

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Number of traffic incidents, injuries, and fatalities nationwide during January 2018 to June 2022 period.

(Incidents: traffic incidents, injuries: traffic injuries, fatalities: traffic fatalities).</p

Correlation coefficient and <i>p</i> value for nationwide, region, and prefecture with significant inverse correlation between number of COVID-19 infections and number of incidents, injuries, and fatalities as a result of traffic collisions.

Correlation coefficient and p value for nationwide, region, and prefecture with significant inverse correlation between number of COVID-19 infections and number of incidents, injuries, and fatalities as a result of traffic collisions.</p

Number of traffic incidents by region for the January 2018 to June 2022 period.

(TIF)</p

Comparison of number of traffic incidents, injuries, and fatalities with number of COVID-19 infections nationwide, regionally and for Tokyo prefecture for the January 2020 to June 2022 period.

(Incidents: traffic incidents, injuries: traffic injuries, fatalities: traffic fatalities, infections: COVID-19 infections).</p

Population density and vehicle density by prefecture in Japan.

Population density and vehicle density by prefecture in Japan.</p

Comparison of number of traffic incidents, injuries, and fatalities with number of COVID-19 infections in low population density prefectures for the January 2020 to June 2022 period.

(Incidents: traffic incidents, injuries: traffic injuries, fatalities: traffic fatalities, infections: COVID-19 infections).</p

Comparison of number of traffic incidents, injuries, and fatalities with number of COVID-19 infections in high population density prefectures for the January 2020 to June 2022 period.

(Incidents: traffic incidents, injuries: traffic injuries, fatalities: traffic fatalities, infections: COVID-19 infections).</p