title: Fatal motorcycle accidents in Fars Province, Iran: a community-based survey.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To identify the main characteristics of victims of motorcycle accidents in Fars Province, Iran.
  
  
  METHODS
  This cross-sectional study was conducted in Fars Province which has the fourth largest population of all 31 provinces in Iran from March 2009 to June 2010. We included data from all 542 recorded cases of fatalities due to motor vehicle accidents. Data were recorded from the forensic medicine registry consisting of demographic and accident-related information. Demographic information consisted of name, age, sex, status of fatal victim (motorcycle driver vs passenger) and educational level.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 2 345 autopsy records from the forensic medicine archives, 542 (23.1%) gave the cause of death as motor vehicle accidents. Mean age of these victims was (31.4+/-6.5) years, and the male to female ratio was 28. Head injury was the most common cause of death in these victims, and overall they tended to have a low level of education. Motorcycle accidents frequently involved younger age groups (15-35 years), and head trauma related with non-use of a helmet was the most common cause of death.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Head injury is frequent among victims in the province we studied. This situation may be related to the victims' low socioeconomic status and little education regarding traffic laws leading to speeding and disregard of these laws along with their weak enforcement.
authors.affiliation: Health Policy Research Center, School of Medicine, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
authors.forename: Seyed Taghi
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Heydari
authors.forename: Najmeh
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Maharlouei
authors.forename: Ali
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Foroutan
authors.forename: Yaser
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sarikhani
authors.forename: Fariborz
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ghaffarpasand
authors.forename: Arya
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hedjazi
authors.forename: Mohammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zarenezhad
authors.forename: Ghasem
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Moafian
authors.forename: Mohammad Reza
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Aghabeigi
authors.forename: Payam
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Peymani
authors.forename: Seyed Mehdi
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Ahmadi
authors.forename: Maryam
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dehghankhalili
authors.forename: Hassan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Joulaei
authors.forename: Kamran B
authors.initials: KB
authors.lastname: Lankarani
mesh_terms: D000063:Accidents, Traffic; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D006801:Humans; D007492:Iran / Q000453:epidemiology; D009049:Motorcycles; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires