Forensic characteristics of injuries in cyclists in collisions with other vehicles

Abstract

In order to identify the features of the injuries formation in cyclists who were injured in a collision of moving vehicles with a blow to the rear wheel area of a bicycle moving at a slower speed in the same direction, the authors analyzed the results of forensic medical examinations in relation to 151 corpses of cyclists who died in road accidents aged 4 to 74 years. It was found that with this type of bicycle injury, the structures of the head, chest, lower extremities, as well as the structures of the abdomen were most often injured. Injuries to the structure of the head were characterized by the formation of depressed-comminuted fractures: more often frontal-temporal, less often occipital bone. Bilateral fractures of the ribs were also quite frequent types of damage, mainly the upper ribs (up to 5-6 ribs) were damaged, most often along the midclavicular and anterior axillary lines. Lung contusions have been identified in most of the injured persons with chest structure injury. Injuries to the abdominal organs and retroperitoneal space were recorded in 22.27% of cases, with liver and spleen ruptures in the majority of cases. Spinal injuries in cyclists were detected in 13.25% of cases, injuries in the cervical spine prevailed: cervico-occipital injuries and fracture-dislocations, mainly between 1-2 and 3-4 or 6-7 cervical vertebrae with separation or contusion of the spinal cord. Injuries to the structure and organs of the pelvis in road accidents in cyclists were observed very rarely, which made it possible to distinguish this type of bicycle injuries from other types of transport and blunt injuries, in particular from automobile injuries. Injuries to the structure of the limbs of the victims were noted quite often: fractures of the upper limbs occurred when falling on the road surface and injury to the lower limbs was formed both during the contact of two vehicles and when the victims fell on the road surface.