CRANIOFACIAL INJURIES RESULTING FROM TAXICAB ACCIDENTS IN NEW-YORK-CITY

Taxicab accidents are a common occurrence in New York City, This revie w was undertaken to characterize the nature of craniofacial injuries t hat result from taxicab accidents, Data were collected on 16 patients who required admission to trauma or plastic and reconstructive surgery services, after sustaining craniofacial injury as a result of a taxic ab accident, Front-end deceleration collisions were the most common me chanism of injury, Fifty-six percent of the patients were thrown again st the bulletproof, Plexiglas driver safety divider and sustained an i njury most commonly to the anterior midface, Both bony and soft-tissue injuries were common in the entire group, Complex facial fractures we re sustained by 56% of patients, with nasal-septal fractures most comm on, followed by naso-ethmoid-orbital, anterior frontal, anterior maxil lary, and Le Fort I and II fractures, Only 1 patient in the group was wearing a seat belt and that patient was a driver, Given the high inci dence of craniofacial injury, appropriate safety standards for taxicab s must be initiated, including the reevaluation of the utility of the safety divider and mandatory seat belt use for rear-seat passengers.