Hyperpigmentation in the long bones of the lower limbs as a basis for vehicle identification and traffic accident reconstruction

Abstract

Following the earlier studies on the identification of injuries in unbroken cranial bones, the described method was adapted for the examination of the long bones in fatal casualties of traffic accidents. Two types of bumper injuries might occur: the bumper was found to cause fracturing of limbs [1], and femoral muscle contusions and microtraumas within compact and spongiose parts in the femoral with subsequent maculate hyperpigmentation [2]. The authors show that the correlation of above mentioned traces of the trauma, facilitates the reconstruction of the accident and also the identification of the vehicle.