LOWER-LIMB INJURIES TO PASSENGER CAR OCCUPANTS

A detailed examination was undertaken of hospitalized car occupants wh o sustained a lower limb injury in a frontal crash. The assessment inc luded an analysis of the type, severity and causes of these injuries a nd mechanisms involved in lower limb fractures. The findings showed th at fractures and dislocations occurred in 88% of lower limb injury cas es, that more than half were from crashes <48 km hour(-1) and that the number of fractures was directly proportional with Delta V. Ankle dis locations and foot fractures from the floor and toe pand were the most common injury-source combination overall. The most frequent mechanism s of lower limb fracture were compression, perpendicular loading of th e knee and crushing or twisting of the foot. The study points to the n eed for further regulation to reduce lower limb fractures in frontal c rashes and highlights a number of possible countermeasures. (C) 1997 E lsevier Science Ltd.