MORBIDITY AND MORTALITY OF CAR OCCUPANTS: COMPARATIVE SURVEY OVER 24 MONTHS

The severity of injuries sustained by 2577 car occupants in road traffic accidents in the catchment area of one district accident service during February 1982 to January 1984 inclusive was assessed using the injury severity score system. In the first 12 months the mean injury severity score for front seat occupants injured in a road traffic accident was 4.94 and in the second 12 month period, after the implementation of the seat belt law, the mean injury severity score of all injured front seat occupants was 2.80. These figures indicated a reduction in injury severity of front seat occupants of 53.4% on the previous 12 month figures. The severity of injury sustained by unbelted front seat occupants and back seat passengers showed no significant change over the two years. The number of front seat occupants killed or sustaining serious injuries (injury severity score greater than 12) showed a reduction of 54% in the 12 months beginning February 1983. Front seat occupants requiring admission for injuries sustained showed a decline of 42% in the 12 months after the introduction of the seat belt law, and deaths among front seat occupants fell by 27% compared with the previous 12 months. After the implementation of seat belt legislation those front seat occupants killed or sustaining serious injuries included a significantly higher proportion of victims who were not wearing their seat belts or showed positive evidence of alcohol intake at the time of the accident. This series suggests that the incidence of serious injury or deaths among front seat occupants of cars has decreased substantially since the seat belt law became effective on 31 January 1983. (Author/TRRL)

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/00071447
• Corporate Authors:

  British Medical Association

  BMA House, Tavistock Square
  London WC1H 9JR,   United Kingdom 
• Authors:
  • Christian, M S
• Publication Date: 1984-12

Media Info

• Features: References; Tables;
• Pagination: p. 1525-26
• Serial:
  • BMJ
  • Volume: 289
  • Issue Number: 64
  • Publisher: British Medical Association
  • ISSN: 0959-8138
  • Serial URL: http://www.bmj.com/

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Before and after studies; Blood alcohol levels; Crash severity; Crashes; Fatalities; Front seats; Injuries; Injury severity; Intoxication; Legislation; Manual safety belts; Rear seats; Seats; Statistics; Traffic crashes; Traffic regulations; Utilization; Vehicle occupants
• Uncontrolled Terms: Front; Motor vehicle accidents; Traffic laws; Use
• Geographic Terms: United Kingdom
• ITRD Terms: 1643: Accident; 9148: Before and after study; 2231: Drunkenness; 1602: Fatality; 9025: Front; 2163: Injury; 1556: Legislation; 1476: Safety belt; 1388: Seat (veh); 1623: Severity (accid, injury); 6555: Statistics; 8119: United Kingdom; 9084: Use; 1715: Vehicle occupant
• Subject Areas: Data and Information Technology; Highways; Law; Passenger Transportation; Research; Safety and Human Factors; I81: Accident Statistics; I83: Accidents and the Human Factor; I84: Personal Injuries;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00396628
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Transport Research Laboratory
• Report/Paper Numbers: ANALYTIC
• Files: ITRD, TRIS
• Created Date: Sep 30 1985 12:00AM