Traffic accidents caused by epilepsy.
During a 10-year period, 203 traffic accidents were suspected of being caused by epilepsy; 155 of them definitely caused by seizures were selected for study. The seizures of 75% were psychomotor; in 12% the seizure was the first, and only 4% of the rest had reported that they had epilepsy when they applied for a license. Traffic accidents due to epilepsy were less serious than the "average accident". They involved another vehicle much less often, and they occurred more often outside rather than inside built-up areas. Accidents caused by epilepsy were rare--1/10,000 in the 10-year period. The characteristic features of the traffic accident due to epilepsy may be due to the "random" occurrence of seizures in traffic, and to the seizure-suppressing effect of increased vigilance in city traffic.
D000063:Accidents, Traffic / Q000517:prevention & control; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D004827:Epilepsy; D004833:Epilepsy, Temporal Lobe; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009426:Netherlands; D013223:Statistics as Topic