Boot top fractures in pedestrians. A forensic masquerade.
Fractures of the legs are characteristic injuries in automobile-pedestrian collisions. Typically these occur at the level of the bumper; measurement of the height of these fractures may be used to reconstruct the events surrounding the collision. We report two cases in which the lower leg fractures did not correspond to the bumper, but rather to the top of the boots worn by the pedestrians. In both cases the decedents were wearing boots with lugged soles which provided fixation of the foot and support for the foot and ankle. The mechanism of these injuries is analogous to boot top fractures which occur in skiing accidents.
D000063:Accidents, Traffic; D000328:Adult; D005360:Fibula / Q000293:injuries*; D005554:Forensic Medicine; D050723:Fractures, Bone / Q000209:etiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012775:Shoes / Q000009:adverse effects*; D013978:Tibial Fractures / Q000209:etiology*