Forensic evaluation of pedestrian injuries by FORTIS system and its significance for technical analysis of traffic accidents performed using simulation programs

Radoslav Morochovič,Alena Obrátilová,Aleš Vémola,Ján Mandelík

doi:10.1186/s41935-022-00264-8

Abstract

BackgroundCurrently, simulation programs are used for a technical analysis of accidents including pedestrians as they provide a great amount of data on the physical parameters of the pedestrian’s body movement and its contacts with the vehicle or the road. In order to be able to make use of the presented options, it is necessary to obtain additional information about detected injuries from forensic doctors in a way utilizable for technical experts.MethodsThis study includes the results of 250 traffic accidents and approximately 200 real accidents, as well as 255 simulations. The evaluations were based on the investigation of circumstances, accompanying documentation, autopsy findings, photo documentation, and the results of additional expert examinations. We further proceeded in line with the complete autopsy findings in accordance with the requirements of the international classification of diseases.ResultsPrevious practice has shown that the modified forensic system FORTIS, due to its capability to parametrize through localization using the PC Fortis © program, is an important tool to supplement verbal descriptions and localizations of injuries that have been used so far.ConclusionsThe FORTIS system is a usable and universal means of supplementing verbal medical descriptions for the needs of traffic accident analysts with a scoring system of a high informative value. This, in combination with a video simulation of contacts with a pedestrian’s body during a collision and with values of physical parameters from simulation programs, makes it possible to significantly increase the value of evidence for the needs of the police and courts.

Highlights

Simulation programs are used for a technical analysis of accidents including pedestrians as they provide a great amount of data on the physical parameters of the pedestrian’s body movement and its contacts with the vehicle or the road
A technical expert may use simulation programs to analyze the course of an accident, which are a standard tool used for the purpose
The results show that in case of a fatal injury of a pedestrian, the Forensic Traumatology Injury Scale (FORTIS) score at the location of a traffic accident is relatively high for the basic damage to health (BDH) and Post-traumatic complications (Co1) items; in case a pedestrian survives a traffic accident, the FORTIS Associated complications (Co2) value gradually increases as findings indicating associated complications increase

Summary

Introduction

Simulation programs are used for a technical analysis of accidents including pedestrians as they provide a great amount of data on the physical parameters of the pedestrian’s body movement and its contacts with the vehicle or the road. The possibility to obtain such detailed physical data from the calculation performed allows us to use them to verify the performed calculations of the pedestrian and vehicle collision by comparing the detected pedestrian injuries. The importance of this issue is clear, as in practice there are often significant differences among technical experts regarding the correctness of performed simulations, and the conclusions of the expert investigation

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Discussion

Conclusion