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Massive Lesions Owing to Motorcyclist Impact Against Guardrail Posts: Analysis of Two Cases and Safety Considerations *
Author(s) -
Brandimarti Francesco,
Giacomini Ilenia,
Fraternale Barbara,
Giorgetti Raffaele,
Tagliabracci Adriano
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
journal of forensic sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.715
H-Index - 96
eISSN - 1556-4029
pISSN - 0022-1198
DOI - 10.1111/j.1556-4029.2010.01649.x
Subject(s) - crash , forensic engineering , poison control , injury prevention , occupational safety and health , engineering , accident analysis , suicide prevention , aeronautics , medicine , medical emergency , computer science , pathology , programming language
Two motorcycle riders lost control of their vehicle, fell, and hit a guardrail, which acted as a blade and led to a rapid, fatal outcome. In one case, the high velocity of the body at the time of the impact resulted in complete detachment of the trunk. Reconstruction of the accident dynamics enabled the guardrail post to be identified as the means of injury in both cases. The two accidents occurred over a short period of time, highlighting a dangerous phenomenon that in less severe cases is presumably associated with different degrees of survivor disability. The accidents deserve mention, because a different design of the impact surface of the guardrail post might have prevented the lethal outcome. There is an urgent need for legislators to pass regulations that modify crash barrier homologation criteria, which have been devised primarily for the safety of car passengers but fail to protect motorcyclists.