Vehicle-pedestrian Accidents Research Articles

Comparison of the Pedestrian Crossing Intention Parameters and Research on Intention Recognition Model Under Different Road Conditions

There have a large number of pedestrian-vehicle accidents on the pedestrian crossing area in China every year, causing huge loss of life and property. In view of different road conditions, it's crucial to establish a more accurate crossing intention recognition model to improve the safety of pedestrians. In this work, a pedestrian crossing area was chosen. Due to construction reasons, two road conditions appeared in the same crossing area at different periods, namely a condition with a zebra crossing and that without a zebra crossing. We compared pedestrian crossing intention parameters under two road conditions in the same crossing area. The results found that there was a great difference in the characterization parameters of pedestrian crossing intention when the site with and without a zebra crossing. Additionally, a more comprehensive crossing intention characteristic parameters set was established. The characteristic parameters were pedestrian speed, the distance between vehicle and crossing area, time to collision (TTC), and safe vehicle deceleration (SVD), pedestrian age, pedestrian gender, group, respectively. The pedestrian intention recognition model for the site with a and without a zebra crossing were established by long short-term memory network integrated with the attention mechanism (AT-LSTM). When the model recognized pedestrian crossing intention 0.6 seconds in advance, the recognition accuracies were 93.05% and 93.89% respectively. The research results are of great significance for improving the safety of autonomous vehicles in the future, and there are also important to improve pedestrian safety.

A review of geriatric injuries at a major trauma centre in South Africa.

Trauma in South Africa (SA) has been referred to as a malignant epidemic, but the impact of trauma on the elderly has tended to be overlooked. To address this deficit by focusing on trauma victims aged ≥65 years. All patients aged ≥65 years who were admitted to Grey's Hospital, Pietermaritzburg, SA, following trauma between December 2012 and January 2019 were reviewed. Over the 6-year study period, a total of 281 patients aged ≥65 years were admitted to Grey's Hospital following trauma. There were 150 males (53.4%) and 97 females (34.5%). The sex of 34 patients was unknown. The average age was 72 years (range 65 - 97). There were 226 cases of blunt trauma, 42 cases of penetrating trauma (including two incidents of impalement following blunt trauma) and 15cases of other types of trauma. The most common causes of blunt trauma were accidental falls (n=76), motor vehicle accidents (n=46), pedestrian vehicle accidents (n=32) and falls from a height (n=23). Gunshot wounds (n=22) and knife wounds (n=14) were the most common forms of penetrating trauma. Other trauma mainly comprised dog bites (n=6) and snakebites (n=6). There were 72 incidents of assault (25.6% of total cases). The majority of assaults were committed by a single perpetrator, and the perpetrator was frequently known to the victim. There were no significant differences in the proportions of penetrating, blunt and other trauma injuries between males and females. A total of 44 patients (15.7%) required surgical intervention, and 41 patients (14.6%) experienced complications during their hospitalisation. Respiratory, renal and cardiac complications were most frequent, and 5 patients had a cardiac arrest. Seven experienced acute kidney injury. Seventeen patients (6.0%) required intensive care unit admission and 5 (1.8%) required ventilation. Patients stayed in hospital for an average of 2.96 days (range 0 - 39). Of the patients, 241 (85.8%) survived, 32 (11.4%) died and 8 (2.9%) had an unknown outcome. Geriatric trauma in SA is relatively rare, but will increase as the population ages. There is a high incidence of assault as a mechanism, highlighting the fact that elderly people are a vulnerable group. Managing these patients is challenging and is associated with significant morbidity and mortality.

Performance assessment and optimal design of hybrid material bumper for pedestrian lower extremity protection

Lower extremity injuries have exhibited a great proportion in pedestrian-vehicle accidents. This study aims to assess the performance of an innovative aluminum-steel hybrid material bumper for pedestrian lower extremity protection. Finite element (FE) models of the hybrid bumper and its two single-material counterparts were built, validated, and integrated into an automotive front-end structure. The Transport Research Laboratory (TRL) legform model was used to obtain values of the lower extremity injury indicators including the knee-bending angle α, the knee-shearing displacement Disp, and the tibia acceleration Acc, upon impacting on the three types of bumpers. Numerical results showed that the aluminum and the hybrid bumpers result in much less pedestrian lower extremity injuries than the steel bumper due to the lower stiffness and strength of the constitutive material. Besides, the hybrid bumper is superior to its homogeneous counterparts as to the requirements for both pedestrian protection at low-speed and load transfer at high-speed crashes. Moreover, multi-objective optimization designs (MOD) of the three bumpers were performed to minimize the pedestrian's lower extremity injuries, by means of the non-dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm (NSGA-II) and the radial basis function (RBF) meta-models. The optimal results confirmed the greatest potential of the hybrid bumper for pedestrian lower extremity protection. By virtue of the entropy weight method to determine the weighting factor of each injury indicator, Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to an Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) was used to sort the obtained Pareto designs and to select the comprehensive optimal bumpers. The TOPSIS optimum of the hybrid bumper is much closer to the ‘utopian point’, showing again its advantages over the homogeneous counterparts for pedestrian lower extremity protection in pedestrian-vehicle accidents.

A cross-study on video data gathering and microsimulation techniques to estimate pedestrian safety level in a confined space

Nowadays, pedestrian safety is a growing problem: on the one hand pedestrian movement is increasing, on the other hand measures to improve walkers’ safety are still scarce. During the years, various behavioural models have been proposed, which consider several parameters characterizing both the environment and the road users. Many studies define accident risk as a combination of three main factors, which are the accident occurrence probability, the vulnerability of the involved users and the economic and social damages due to the accident. The approaches spotted in literature about pedestrian safety assessment are various and they mainly deal with vehicle-pedestrian accidents. These studies have been developed in order to foresee and reduce possible losses in human lives. Also pedestrian-pedestrian encroachments can lead to dangerous consequences, but researches about them are still limited. This study aims to highlight the correspondence and/or the differences between different analysis methods applied to pedestrian field, focusing on situations where no interactions with vehicular traffic exist. This is one step of a wider research, which has been carried out on a confined space, selected because of easy replicability of its general geometrical features and of the effects on pedestrian trajectories induced by some local peculiarities of the facility. The study focuses on the evaluation of a real case, which has been monitored through the use of cameras and analysed via a dedicated tool. The achieved results have been then compared to the outputs obtained by reconstructing the same situation in a micro-simulation model. The first step - video acquisition and elaboration - allowed to observe how people behave in the examined area and how the environment influences their trajectories, while the second phase permitted to understand if a microsimulation tool can reliably reply pedestrian movement in the analysed scenario and therefore provide surrogate safety values comparable to the ones obtained from real data. In the model, a simplified but still accurate environment has been set up: homogeneous geometric features have been drawn and no obstacles have been considered. The modelled pedestrian flow is a bi-directional, 2400 ped/h flux, characterized by heterogeneity of agents: both male and female adults. In order to be able to compare the data obtained by video footages and elaborated through an ad hoc tracking tool with outputs of the microsimulation model, from the whole flow on the ramp some intersecting pedestrians have been selected in both directions of walking. This cross-study of two different techniques has allowed to inspect the effects of the environment on pedestrian dynamics and to precautionary estimate the level of safety via calculation of surrogate safety parameters.

The tolerable waiting time: A generalized Pareto distribution model with empirical investigation

In China, it is more common for pedestrians than vehicles to disobey traffic signals, resulting in a high risk of pedestrian-vehicle accidents. Pedestrian waiting time are the most critical indicator of the tendency to violate traffic signals. A statistical analysis based on 4027 field-collected samples showed that the length of time that pedestrians are prepared to wait depends on the type of pedestrian traffic signal. Compared to a countdown-type signal, pedestrians were more likely to violate conventional-type signals. Furthermore, pedestrians were willing to wait longer during peak hours than during off-peak hours. There were no significant differences between the waiting times of male and female travelers. To predict pedestrian waiting time, we propose a generalized Pareto distribution (GPD) model and calibrated it based on our field data. Monte Carlo simulations showed that the maximum likelihood estimation (MLE), Bayesian MLE (BMLE), and weighted nonlinear least squares (WNLS) models are the best methods for estimating the scale and shape parameters of the GPD model. Several empirical results were output from the models. For example, at countdown-type signals, the 85th quantile of the tolerable waiting time in off-peak and peak hours was 51.5 and 54.4 s, respectively; the respective values for males and females were 55.4 and 55.0 s. At conventional signals, the tolerable waiting time was approximately 42.5 s. These findings are useful for the planning, design, and operation of pedestrian facilities.

Investigation of head injuries suffered by pedestrians in traffic accidents via videos

Head injury is the leading cause of fatality and disability suffered by pedestrians, which were the extremely vulnerable population of road users. The purpose of this study is to investigate the risk factors determining the head injury severity of pedestrians involved in traffic accidents. A team was established to collect pedestrian–vehicle accident cases occurring between 2011 and 2015 in Chongqing, China. Person-, vehicle- and environment-related variables were analysed using multivariate logistic regression method to determine the relative likelihood of pedestrian head injury. Pedestrian head injuries were coded according to the Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS) and 111 collisions were analysed. It was found that higher proportions of severe head injuries (AIS4+) were associated with age of over 44 years old and impact speed of over 40 km/h. Comparison of the pedestrian head injury risk from the different contact site demonstrated that the collision with the windshield frame generally leads to more severe injury. In addition, the risks of severe head injury of pedestrians aged 45 years were 10%, 25%, 50%, 75% and 90% at impact speeds of 23.7, 33.9, 44.2, 54.5 and 64.7 km/h, respectively. The first three determinant variables on head injury severity and fatality risk were impact speed, head contact site and pedestrian age. The risks of severe head injury suffered by pedestrian increased radically when the impact speed exceeds 30 km/h. We believe that these findings may play an important role in understanding the vehicle–pedestrian collisions, which can serve as a guide in designing targeted interventions.

Design and performance evaluation of acoustic vehicle-to-pedestrian communication system

There is a greater risk of vehicle–pedestrian accidents when vehicles are traveling at low speeds. To cope with this problem, acoustic vehicle-to-pedestrian communication that can measure relative speed between vehicle and pedestrian is proposed. The proposed system is easy to implement on both the vehicle and pedestrian side, and will promote improved traffic safety. The proposed system is affected by noise, Doppler shift, fading, delay spread, and Doppler spread, and uses an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing signal, error correcting code, frequency diversity, and null subcarrier to counteract these effects. The performance of the proposed system was evaluated in outdoor experiments using real vehicles. In a line-of-sight environment, the proposed system measured relative speed and communicated without bit error at a distance of 40 m with a transmitter moving at about 2.78 m s−1 and a stationary receiver. In a non-line-of-sight environment, the proposed system measured relative speed and communicated without bit error at a 9 m distance between transmitter and receiver, which is a sufficient distance to prevent vehicle–pedestrian accidents.

Situational characteristics of fatal pedestrian accidents involving vehicles traveling at low speeds in Japan

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the situational characteristics of fatal pedestrian accidents involving vehicles traveling at low speeds in Japan. We focused on vehicles with 4 or more wheels. Such characteristics included daytime or nighttime conditions, road type, vehicle behaviors preceding the accident, and vehicle impact locations.Methods: Pedestrian fatality data on vehicle–pedestrian accidents were obtained from the Institute for Traffic Accident Research and Data Analysis of Japan (ITARDA) from 2005 to 2014. Nine vehicle classifications were considered: Trucks with gross vehicle weight (GVW) ≥7.5 tons and <7.5 tons, buses, box vans, minivans, sport utility vehicles (SUVs), sedans, light passenger cars (LPCs), and light cargo vans (LCVs). We compared the situational daytime or nighttime conditions, road type, vehicle behaviors preceding the accident, and vehicle impact locations for accident-involved vehicles traveling at low and higher speeds across all vehicle types.Results: The results indicate that pedestrian fatalities involving vehicles traveling at low speeds occurred more often under daytime conditions across all vehicle types. At signalized intersections, the relative proportions of pedestrian fatalities were significantly higher when vehicles were traveling at low speed, except when the accidents involved box vans or SUVs. Similarly, when vehicles turned right, the relative proportions of pedestrian fatalities were significantly higher when vehicles traveling at low speed were involved across all vehicle types. In terms of the frontal right vehicle impact location, the relative proportions of pedestrian fatalities were significantly higher when trucks with GVW ≥7.5 tons or <7.5 tons, sedans, or LCVs traveling at low speed were involved.Conclusions: The situational characteristics of fatal pedestrian accidents involving vehicles traveling at low speeds identified in this study can guide targeted development of new traffic safety regulations or technologies specific to vehicle–pedestrian interactions at low vehicle travel speeds (i.e., driver alert devices or automated emergency braking systems). Ultimately, these developments can improve pedestrian safety by reducing the frequency or severity of vehicle–pedestrian accidents for vehicles turning right at intersections and/or reducing the number of resultant pedestrian fatalities.

The Rorschach butterfly, understanding bone biomechanics prior to using nomenclature in bone trauma interpretations

Blunt traumas are the most common injuries observed and reported in medical examiner settings. Two common methods to describe bending bone fractures in the anthropological literature include the application of morphology nomenclature and describing characteristic fracture morphology. A nomenclature descriptor of blunt trauma, the butterfly fracture, is commonly used to describe broken long bones. In this paper, a case study of a fractured long bone in a pedestrian vehicle accident is used to highlight the complex interplay of factors involved in bone fracture formation. The application of a butterfly fracture pattern in trauma analysis is useful in establishing the bending direction of a bone, in identifying failure modes, and is valuable in teaching. Yet, butterfly fracture characteristics need to be examined in 3-dimensions for diagnosis of modes of failure, tension, shear and compression, and even then, the bending direction of a broken bone may not provide a reliable indicator of the point of impact (POI); this is especially true when a priori knowledge of the injury is unknown. Common fracture nomenclature, such as oblique, transverse and/or comminuted, as well as eponyms, are medical descriptions of an injury which are impractical to use for interpreting a broken bone from fleshed or skeletonized remains, in establishing a POI and in evaluating total bone trauma (TBT). The examination ofcharacteristic features on the surface of a broken bone associated with the modes of failure is the best approach for establishing the bending direction of a long bone.

Research of non-linear frictional contact model in vehicle-pedestrian accidents based on computer simulation

In numerical simulation of vehicle–pedestrian accidents, pedestrian rest positions are greatly influenced by the friction coefficient between pedestrian and ground. Current researches on vehicle–pedestrian accident reconstruction often regard pedestrian–ground friction coefficient as a constant value. However, clothing fabric belongs to viscoelastic material. Some researches show that friction coefficient of viscoelastic material can be influenced by normal contact force. In this paper, a contact model between clothing fabric and asphalt road is built by computer simulations. The calculation based on this contact model indicates that the pedestrian–ground friction coefficient in accidents is not constant. Relationship between friction force and contact pressure is non-linear. Meanwhile, according to the simulation results of a real-world vehicle–pedestrian accident, influence of vehicle– pedestrian contact stiffness on pedestrian projection has been discussed, and simulation errors under different pedestrian–ground friction coefficients are calculated. Simulation results show that compared with traditional pedestrian–ground contact model, the non-linear pedestrian–ground contact model can obtain smaller simulation error with higher stability, which has validated the rationality of this contact model.AbbreviationsShear stress at surface contact pointsAReal contact areaRMS roughness of the surfaceConstant related to the average height of the surfaceCorrelation length of the surface in X-directionCorrelation length of the surface in Y-directionZ1Height matrix of surface 1Z2Height matrix of surface 2Average height of peaks on surface 1Average height of peaks on surface 2Distance between two rough surfacesCharacterised distance between rough surfacesDistance matrix between rough surfacesRatio of real contact area to nominal contact areaGaussian contact radiusReal contact area of a single rough peakAccuracy of contact area calculationContact matrix between rough surfacesLocal contact force of a single rough peakElastic modulus of surface 1Elastic modulus of surface 2Poisson ratio of surface 1Poisson ratio of surface 2Friction forceFriction coefficientFeature friction coefficientConstant related to material property parameters

Reliability analysis of vehicle speed estimation based on uncertainty of information obtained on accident scene

In numerical analysis of vehicle–pedestrian accidents, the estimation of impact speed is often completed based on some on-scene information such as pedestrian projection distance. In this article, aimed at the uncertainty of accident on-scene information, error calculation formulas of crucial information are derived based on the process of on-scene investigation. Meanwhile, the reliability model of pedestrian projection distance measurement is established using first-order reliability method. With the vehicle–pedestrian accident scene that has been built, the reliability safety factors of projection distance measurement under different impact velocity are calculated. Furthermore, the influence of positioning methods, impact velocity, and datum points on reliability of on-scene information is discussed, and some suggestions are made to improve the reliability of on-scene investigation.

Evaluation of epidemiological pattern and survey of incidence rate of Accidents and Incidents in the Khomein City, Markazi province

Background: Accidents and injuries are one of the most important causes of disability and death in developed and developing countries. Awareness of the dimensions and causes of accidents and injuries can be beneficial for health policymakers. Therefore, this study was conducted to aim of estimation the incidence rate and evaluation of epidemiological pattern of accidents and incidents in the Khomein City. Methods: This descriptive-analytical study from cross-sectional type was carried out using data from the national program of accidents and injuries registry in the Khomein Province in 2017. The study population is injured by accidents referring to the hospital. To calculate the age-standardized incidence rate (ASR) was used from the world standard population. Data analysis was performed using SPSS software version 20 and at an error level of 5%. Results: The mean and standard deviation of age the injured was 32.9±18.8. The annually Incidence Rate (IR) of accidents and injuries was 939.1 cases per 100,000 people, while the age-standardized incidence rate (ASR) were estimated to be 917 per 100,000 people. In total, the sex ratio (male to female) in all accidents is 2.46, that this proportion in the age group of 20-29 years was maximum. The most incidents occurred in both sexes were reported motor vehicle (car) accident (32.2%), motorcycle accident (31.7%), pedestrian accident (16.2%) and poisoning (6.2%), respectively. Between gender variable and type of incident was observed significant difference (P<0.001). Cases of suicide attempt in the female group were 6.5 times higher than the men group. Conclusion: The incidence rate of traffic crashes in the city of Khomein is several times the provincial and national levels, for this reason, this city is considered as a high-risk and at-risk regions for traffic accidents in the country. Therefore, should be In addition to the optimizing the roads and removing the Accident-prone spots, The Naja Rahvar Police with by imposing strict and accurate traffic rules and more control of the drivers behavior, are attempting to reduce the occurrence of accidents. The high occurrence of poisonings and suicide attempt several times in the women s group is warning danger for the authorities to take preventive policies and applying cultural mechanisms to reduce this ratio to be stepped up.

Defining an intra-operative blunt mesenteric injury grading system and its use as a tool for surgical-decision making

BackgroundThe mesentery may be injured in trauma and few grading systems describe mesenteric injury severity. We aimed to develop and validate an intra-operative mesenteric injury grading system. MethodsA modified Delphi technique was used to generate an intraoperative grading system for blunt mesenteric injury called the mesenteric injury score (MIS). We performed a retrospective review (2010–2016) of patients >15 years old with blunt abdominal trauma. Patient demographics, injury severity score (ISS) and mechanism, clinical, operative, and outcome data were abstracted. The intraoperative grading system was used to describe patient outcomes including duration of stay and management approach. We compared the correlation of abdominal abbreviated injury score, Blunt Injury Prediction Score (BIPS) and the MIS with clinical outcomes using Spearman’s rho. ResultsThere were fifty-one patients of which 86% were male. Injury mechanisms included motor vehicle accidents (n = 37, 73%), pedestrian vehicle accidents (n = 7, 13%), assaults (n = 4, 8%), falls (n = 2, 4%), and a single airplane crash (2%). Median [IQR] ISS was 16 [10–25] and GCS at hospital admission was 15 [15–15]. The median [IQR] international normalized ratio was 1.2 [1.1–1.5], lactate was 2.7 [1.7–4.9], and hemoglobin was 11.4 [8.6–12.2]. The distributions of MIS included Grade I (3, 5%), Grade II (10, 20%), Grade III (10, 20%), Grade IV, 5 (10%), and Grade V (23, 45%). Increasing mesenteric injury grade was associated with longer duration of stay, need for bowel resection, and damage control laparotomy. ConclusionsWe developed an intra-operative mesenteric injury grading system (MIS) and provided an initial retrospective validation using a series of patients with blunt abdominal trauma. The proposed MIS corresponded with both the AIS and the BIPS. Future study comparing cross sectional imaging and operative findings based on MIS criteria is needed.

Correlating Geographic Location with Incidence of Motor Vehicle–Induced Pedestrian Injury

To date, no studies have examined the relationship between geographic and socioeconomic factors and the frequency of pedestrians sustaining traumatic injuries from a motor vehicle. The objective of this study was to analyze the impact of location on the frequency of pedestrian injury by motor vehicle. The University of Louisville Trauma Registry was queried for patients who had been struck by a motor vehicle from 2010 to 2015. Demographic and injury information as well as outcome measures were evaluated to identify those impacting risk of pedestrian versus motor vehicle accidents. Number of incidents was correlated with lower median household income. There was also a moderate correlation between the number of incidents and population density. Multivariable analysis demonstrated a significant association between increased median household income and distance from downtown Louisville and decreased risk of death following pedestrian versus motor vehicle accident. Incidence of pedestrian injury by motor vehicles is influenced by regional socioeconomic status. Efforts to decrease the frequency of these events should include further investigation into the mechanisms underpinning this relationship.

Correlating Geographic Location with Incidence of Motor Vehicle–Induced Pedestrian Injury

To date, no studies have examined the relationship between geographic and socioeconomic factors and the frequency of pedestrians sustaining traumatic injuries from a motor vehicle. The objective of this study was to analyze the impact of location on the frequency of pedestrian injury by motor vehicle. The University of Louisville Trauma Registry was queried for patients who had been struck by a motor vehicle from 2010 to 2015. Demographic and injury information as well as outcome measures were evaluated to identify those impacting risk of pedestrian versus motor vehicle accidents. Number of incidents was correlated with lower median household income. There was also a moderate correlation between the number of incidents and population density. Multivariable analysis demonstrated a significant association between increased median household income and distance from downtown Louisville and decreased risk of death following pedestrian versus motor vehicle accident. Incidence of pedestrian injury by motor vehicles is influenced by regional socioeconomic status. Efforts to decrease the frequency of these events should include further investigation into the mechanisms underpinning this relationship.

A Cross-Sectional Satisfaction Survey of 845 Traffic Accident Patients Treated with Korean Medicine

Background: We conducted a cross-sectional study to analyze the pain characteristics and satisfaction scores in traffic accident (TA) patients seeking Korean medicine treatment. Methods: A survey was conducted in 845 outpatients who visited 10 Korean medicine institutions due to TA-associated symptoms from February 25th, 2016 to March 9th, 2016. The questionnaire included information about patient sociodemographic characteristics, accident circumstance details, pain levels, treatment methods, satisfaction and pre-existing musculoskeletal disorders. All statistical analyses were performed using STATA 14.0. Results: A total 754 of the 845 respondents had experienced acute pain of onset within 1-2 days. Pain in the neck or low back was most common, and low back pain (LBP) was more prevalent in pedestrian-vehicle accident cases. Patients showed highest satisfaction with pharmacopuncture treatment, followed by acupuncture and Chuna manual therapy. Although treatments were not completed at the time of the survey, the majority of patients were satisfied with the Korean medicine treatments they received and indicated their intent to reuse this treatment in the future. The degree of pain reduction after treatment was a factor that influenced patient satisfaction with and intention to reuse Korean medicine. Conclusion: This study determined the characteristics and status of TA patients using Korean medicine and suggests the need for further more inclusive studies. ©2018 Korean Acupuncture & Moxibustion Medicine Society. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

Surgical plate fixation of multiple rib fractures: a case report

BackgroundThe healthcare system in developing countries is limited; particularly, medical specialties such as emergency and trauma medicine are underdeveloped. Consequently, trauma injuries sustained in traffic accidents result in chronic morbidity more often than similar cases in developed countries. Multiple rib fractures induce significant patient morbidity. Current international guidelines recommend a multidisciplinary, surgery-based treatment approach to achieve optimal clinical benefit.Case presentationWe admitted a 41-year-old Albanian man to our emergency department following a pedestrian-vehicle accident 5 days earlier. He presented with severe upper thoracic pain, chest deformity, dyspnea, tachycardia, subcutaneous emphysema, and hematoma. Chest radiography pointed to hypoventilated lung fields and a minor pleural effusion. Computed tomographic scans indicated displaced fractures of right lateral ribs 5 –11, hyperdensity regions from bone fragments, and pulmonary contusion. The treatment consisted of surgical fixation of ribs 7–10 using titanium reconstruction plates and cortical locking screws. The patient’s clinical condition rapidly improved postoperatively. Follow-up at 6 weeks confirmed a full return to preoperative daily activities and a high quality of life.ConclusionsIn this case report, we present a novel and promising development in the field of trauma medicine in the Republic of Macedonia. Trauma injuries can be treated via advanced multidisciplinary medical care according to international standards, allowing optimal health recovery.

Numerical simulation and analysis of influencing factors of vehicle–pedestrian accidents in untypical contact state

ABSTRACTCurrent numerical analysis of car–pedestrian accidents pays more attention to typical contact state, which means pedestrians collide with the front of vehicle, but less to untypical contact state, which means pedestrians collide with the edge of vehicle. The keystone of this study is to discover appropriate initial parameters of accidents in untypical contact state fast and accurately because numerical simulation usually takes long time. Meanwhile, functions between optimised parameters and initial input parameters in an untypical-contact-state accident are fitted by polynomial regression analysis and has achieved a high degree of accuracy. Simulation of typical case indicates that the combination of orthogonal test and polynomial regression analysis can determine appropriate initial parameters more accurately compared with orthogonal test. Furthermore, the results of numerical simulation and medical identification have achieved a high degree of consistency, which indicates that the reliability and rationality of simulation have been verified.

Numerical simulations of impact fracture behavior of an automotive windshield glazing: An intrinsic cohesive approach

As an important component of a vehicle, the automotive windshield glazing normally consists of two glass sheets bonded with one polyvinyl butyral (PVB) film. In the context of pedestrian-vehicle accidents, the impact cracking mechanism of the windshield is conductive to pedestrian safety protection and traffic accident reconstruction. The purpose of this paper is to validate the capacity of the intrinsic cohesive zone model (CZM) in impact fracture simulations of a windshield. A windshield finite element (FE) model is established, where cohesive elements are inserted into all the common faces between glass hexahedral finite elements. The fracture behavior of a windshield impacted by a standard adult headform impactor is simulated with the commercial explicit finite element code LS-DYNA. Numerical simulation results are validated by comparison with the corresponding experimental outcomes. For comparison, additional simulations have been performed by the widely used element deletion method (EDM) with a plasticity strain failure criterion. Simulation results show that the intrinsic CZM is more suitable to capture the impact failure characteristics of windshield. Finally, the effects of the glass cohesive strength, mechanical properties of PVB and interfacial adhesion on the impact fracture behavior of the windshield are investigated.

Vehicle-pedestrian collisions – Aspects regarding pedestrian kinematics, dynamics and biomechanics

Vehicle-pedestrian collisions result in a substantial number of pedestrian fatalities and injuries worldwide. Concern continues to limit and reduce the tragic consequences suffered by pedestrians involved in road accidents, caused the vehicle-pedestrian accident reconstruction become an important area and distinctly outlined in the reconstruction of road incidents involving vehicle. This paper analyzes the dynamics of vehicle-pedestrian impact influence over pedestrian biomechanics, which is directly connected with the severity of injury after contact with the vehicle profile and with the place where the pedestrian is projected. The main goal of this paper is to highlight some features of reconstruction of road accidents involving pedestrian, looking at the kinematics and dynamics of pedestrian impact for a better understanding of the phenomena that occur. The study on the dynamics and biomechanics of the pedestrian hit by the vehicle is useful in order to understand how the injuries, including the lethal ones, are generated in the collision, what is essential in road accidents reconstruction.