SUDDEN, NATURAL DEATH ON THE ROADS

DER PLOETZLICHE, NATUERLICHE TOD IM STRASSENVERKEHR

Sudden natural death at the wheel has increased in significance with the growth of traffic. Reports in the literature are discussed with reference to the frequency of these cases, their distribution by age and sex, and problems such as difficulties in diagnoisis, risk and prophylaxis. The major natural cause of sudden death at the wheel (83 percent) is defective blood circulation, including ischemic heart trouble. Peak frequency occurs in those aged in their sixties and seventies, a sign that road traffic involves a certain stress on the circulation. The proportion of women (2.6 percent) is about 10 times lower than the average, obviously because older women drive far less often than men. In about 50 percent of cases sudden death occurs in quiet traffic. Serious accidents are rare. Diagnostic difficulties arise when there is a simultaneous effect of alcohol, when fatal injuries have also occurred in an accident caused by an illness, and when the question of blame is not clear. Sudden death at the wheel cannot be completely avoided even if restricted measures are introduced. (TRRL)

• Corporate Authors:

  Springer Verlag

  175 5th Avenue
  New York, NY  United States  10010
• Authors:
  • Krauland, W
• Publication Date: 1978

Media Info

• Features: Figures; Photos; References; Tables;
• Pagination: p. 1-17
• Serial:
  • Journal of Legal Medicine
  • Volume: 81
  • Issue Number: 1
  • Publisher: Springer Verlag

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Age; Aged drivers; Diseases and medical conditions; Drivers; Fatalities; Gender; Hazards; Heart; Risk assessment; Stress (Psychology); Traffic crashes
• Uncontrolled Terms: Death rate; Driver age
• Old TRIS Terms: Death at the wheel
• ITRD Terms: 1553: Blood alcohol content; 2093: Cadaver; 2038: Circulation (blood); 1602: Fatality; 2037: Heart; 2134: Illness; 1568: Insurance; 2157: Medical examination
• Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors; Society;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00324848
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Bundesanstalt für Straßenwesen (BASt)
• Files: ITRD, TRIS
• Created Date: Jun 12 1981 12:00AM