MECHANISM OF LOWER LIMB INJURIES AMONGST MOTORCYCLIST CASUALTIES. PRELIMINARY FINDINGS

Preliminary results from a study of motorcyclist casualties' leg injuries in the UK are reported, based on a cooperative study between the Transport and Road Research Laboratory (TRRL) and three neighbouring hospitals. New methodology was developed for this type of research which is fully described together with full collision details. The aim was to establish detailed mechanisms of leg injuries for motorcyclist casualties admitted to the three participating hospitals as in-patients with lower limb fractures. The preliminary results indicate that a high proportion of the injuries are due to contact with car front structures as car-to-motorcycle accidents are the most common type of collision. Examination of clothing, particularly trousers, has enabled the precise location of leg contact to be established in a high proportion of cases. The part played by the motorcycle structure has also been examined in the study. Preliminary results from 47 accidents are presented with injury severity and location details and the study is continuing. The final results will support TRRL's engineering programme on lower limb protection for motorcyclists and the methodology will be used for other motorcyclist injury studies. For the covering abstract of the conference see TRIS 393117. (Author/TRRL)

• Supplemental Notes:
  • This paper was presented during the Proceedings of the 1984 International IRCOBI Conference on the Biomechanics of Impacts, Delft, the Netherlands, 4, 5, 6 September 1984.
• Corporate Authors:

  IRCOBI (International Research Council on the Biokinetics of Impacts)

  109 Avenue Salvador Allende
  Bron CEDEX,   France  F-69675
• Authors:
  • Freedman, L S
  • Harms, P L
  • Mason, M A
  • Selwood, N
• Conference:
  • This paper was presented during the Proceedings of the 1984 International IRCOBI Conference on the Biomechanics of Impacts, Delft, the Netherlands, 4, 5, 6 September 1984.
• Publication Date: 1984

Media Info

• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: p. 243-250

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Biophysics; Clothing; Conferences; Crashes; Injuries; Injury severity; Leg; Motor vehicles; Motorcyclists; Rural highways
• Geographic Terms: United Kingdom
• ITRD Terms: 1688: Clothing; 8525: Conference; 2163: Injury; 2023: Leg (human); 1752: Motorcyclist; 1623: Severity (accid, injury); 8119: United Kingdom
• Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors; I84: Personal Injuries;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00393135
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Institute for Road Safety Research, SWOV
• Files: ITRD, TRIS
• Created Date: Jun 30 1985 12:00AM