Identification of driver and front passenger in traffic accidents through organ lesion injury pattern

Through a retrospective study, 328 bodies of deceased car drivers were examined (252 drivers and 76 passengers seated in the front seat). Specifically, lesions of the cranial, thoracic and abdominal organs were examined. The purpose of the study is to ascertain whether it is possible to identify, through the organ lesion injury pattern, who was driving at the time of the traffic accident. Statistical analysis was used to detect injuries that could discriminate between the driver and front passenger. Among the drivers, lesions of the thoracic organs were more frequently observed, in accordance with the greater skeletal lesivity (specifically in the sternal), due to the impact with the steering wheel; even the injury of the abdominal organs has more frequently affected the driver than the front passenger. The encephalic lesion effected the driver and front passenger in a similar percentage of cases. As it was imaginable to think, the thoracic lesions were the most effective to differentiate the driver from the front passenger. Abdominal lesion also plays an important role in the study, having been observed in the driver with a doubled frequency compared to the front passenger.