Analysis of 86 fatal motorcycle frontal crashes in Chongqing, China.
OBJECTIVE
To analyze the injuries of motorcyclists involved in fatal motorcycle frontal crashes.


METHODS
A survey group involving multi-discipline experts was built to randomly collect data on fatal motorcycle frontal collision accidents that occurred in Chongqing during 2006-2010. The sampled information included medical or autopsy reports, blood alcohol concentration (BAC) level, helmet use, accident witness, field sketch as well as field photos. The motorcyclist injuries were scored according to the Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS) 2005. The involved riders with a BAC level larger than or equal to 20 mg/ml were attributed to alcohol use. Data were processed statistically with nonparametric test via software SPSS 11.0.


RESULTS
A total of 86 fatal motorcycle frontal crashes were sampled and further analyzed. The age of motorcyclists enrolled in this investigation showed nominal distribution and the middle-aged (30-39 years) occupied the highest percentage of fatalities. There were only 14 motorcyclists (16.3%) wearing helmets at the moment of collision. And 12.8% of these motorcyclist crashes were attributable to alcohol use. Impact injury was the main fatal cause, accounting for 72% of motorcyclist deaths, followed by tumbling injury  (26%) and run-over (2%). Respectively 84%, 22% and 19% of motorcyclists who sustained head, chest and abdominal trauma died. Extremity injury was the most frequently observed injury type.


CONCLUSIONS
This investigation is helpful to build accident prevention programs and develop protection devices which may effectively mitigate injuries and prevent deaths following motorcycle frontal collision accidents. Further investigations on motorcycle collision accidents are still needed.
Chongqing Key Laboratory of Vehicle Crash/Bio-impact and Traffic Safety, Department 4th, Institute of Surgery Research, Daping Hospital, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing 400042, China.
Hui
H
Zhao
Wei
W
Huang
Guang-Yu
GY
Yang
Rong
R
Chen
Sheng-Xiong
SX
Liu
Yong-Min
YM
Yu
Zhi-Yong
ZY
Yin
Zheng-Guo
ZG
Wang
D000007:Abdominal Injuries; D000063:Accidents, Traffic; D002681:China; D006259:Craniocerebral Trauma; D006260:Head Protective Devices; D006801:Humans; D009049:Motorcycles