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While many medical studies have dealt with the incidence, nature and treatment of polytrauma the injury-causing accident mechanisms are rarely discussed in detail, mostly due to the lack of documentation of the technical aspects. The present prospective study was started in late 2007 and collects data from traffic accidents with most severely injured in six south- German counties and two larger cities for the duration of one year. It is aimed at identifying and documenting all polytrauma cases (ISS ≥ 16) caused by traffic accidents and their crash circumstances. The data collection is based on an interdisciplinary concept to include both the police, emergency dispatch centers, hospitals and fire departments in the region and is completely anonymous. Potentially relevant cases where an emergency physician was called to the scene of a traffic accident are provided by the dispatch center. All three hospitals in the region suited for the treatment of polytraumatised patients record injuries, major diagnostic and surgery data. Data and images from the accident scene are provided by the police and by fire departments. The latter provide information which is usually not available from the police, like deployed airbags, vehicle extrication measures and detailed views of car interiors. The main objective of the study is to determine the structure of road users who sustain a polytrauma, their crash opponents and the injury patterns found in relation to the collision configuration and the protection by seat belts, air bags and other devices. With detailed documentation of vehicle damage and extrication measures the study is also intended to support the development of injury predictors for pre-hospital treatment and provide field data regarding further improvement of technical rescue.
The Centre for Automotive Safety Research (formerly the Road Accident Research Unit) at the University of Adelaide in South Australia has a history of in-depth crash investigation going back to the 1970s. In recent years, our focus has been on studying factors that contribute to road crashes, with an emphasis on the role of road infrastructure. Our method involves crash notification by the South Australian Ambulance Service and detailed investigation of the crash scene usually before the crash-involved vehicles have been moved. This at-scene data collection is supplemented with police crash reports, Coroner- reports including autopsy findings for fatal crashes, case notes from hospitals for all injured persons, structured interviews with crash participants and witnesses, and computerised reconstruction of the events of the crash. One of the most notable research findings to emerge from our in-depth work has been the relationship between travelling speed and the risk of crash involvement. By comparing the calculated free speeds of crash-involved vehicles (cases) with the measured speeds of non-crash-involved vehicles travelling on the same roads at the same time of day (controls), we were able to establish that an exponential relationship exists between travelling speed and the likelihood of involvement in a casualty crash. This was the case for both metropolitan and rural areas. This research prompted the reduction of some speed limits in Australia, which has resulted in notable decreases in crash numbers. Another finding of interest in our recent investigation of 298 mostly daytime crashes in metropolitan Adelaide was that medical conditions make a sizeable contribution to the occurrence of road crashes. We found that almost half of the drivers, riders and pedestrians involved in the collisions had at least one pre-existing medical condition, and half of these individuals had two or more such conditions. We found that a medical condition was the direct causal factor in 13% of the casualty crashes investigated and accounted for 23% of all hospital admission or fatal crash outcomes. A follow-up study of all hospital admissions for road crashes in Adelaide is now going ahead to look further at this problem. The paper also describes studies looking specifically at pedestrian crashes. These include studies of the relationship between travelling speed and the risk of a fatal pedestrian crash, and studies utilising real crash data to validate headforms and test dummies used in the assessment of the safety of new vehicles in the event of a collision with a pedestrian.
The aim of this study is to investigate the differences in car occupant injury severity recorded in AIS 2005 compared to AIS 1990 and to outline the likely effects on future data analysis findings. Occupant injury data in the UK Cooperative Crash Injury Study Database (CCIS) were coded for the period February 2006 to November 2007 using both AIS 1990 and AIS 2005. Data for 1,994 occupants with over 6000 coded injuries were reviewed at the AIS and MAIS level of severities and body regions to determine changes between the two coding methodologies. Overall there was an apparent general trend for fewer injuries to be coded at the AIS 4+ severity and more injuries to be coded at the AIS 2 severity. When these injury trends were reviewed in more detail it was found that the body regions which contributed the most to these changes in severity were the head, thorax and extremities. This is one of the first studies to examine the implications for large databases when changing to an updated method for coding injuries.
In September 2004 the first international symposium called ESAR (Expert Symposium on Accident Research) was carried out at the University of Hannover (Germany). The idea for such international conference was to bring together experts from the fields of accident investigation teams worldwide to present their results for a common audience of people from government, industry and other universities. The first conference was a really sufficient one and followed by the second symposium also at the Hannover Medical School two years later in 2006. This two year rhythm was now continued with the third conference in Hannover again in 2008. It is planned to carry out ESAR every two years also in the future. ESAR is a scientific colloquium and can be seen as a platform for exchange of information on accident research issues based on methodologies of investigation, injury mechanisms and injury assessment, accident causation and other issues of statistical accident data analysis. Representatives from authorities as well as from medical and technical institutions come together to discuss new research issues and exchange experiences on accident prevention and the complex field of accident reconstruction. Special focus was given to the target the European Union set for itself in 2000 which stipulates that within 10 years the number of person killed in road traffic accidents must be cut in half. To reach this goal, optimized measures, comprehensive research and analysis are necessary. A key hurdle comes from the European Union extension to 27 member states, each featuring different levels of traffic safety standards and different accident scenarios. Existing results from long term research projects in Europe, the USA, Australia and Japan including analyses of infrastructure, population, vehicle fleet and driver behaviour offer an excellent basis for understanding and improving countermeasures and research support needs in underdeveloped countries. ESAR's goal is to bring together researchers from all parts of the world, who will report on their methods and recommendations to improve traffic safety based on "In-Depth-Investigations" of real world accidents. These In-depth-investigations of accidents require thorough documentation and an accident data analysis on multidisciplinary levels which must be carried out immediately after it occurs. ESAR presents scientists the opportunity to present their studies on a common basis of research level.
U. STEINER beschreibt in seinem Einführungsvortrag die Geschichte und das Wirken des Arbeitskreises "Straßenrecht" seit seiner Gründung 1958. Der Beitrag blickt zurück auf die wissenschaftlichen Persönlichkeiten, die die Arbeit dieses Gremiums prägten, und auf die Themengeschichte, die sich in ihrer Vielfalt einer detaillierten Darstellung entzieht. Neue rechtliche und gesetzliche Entwicklungen beschäftigten den Ausschuss seit jeher. Die deutsche Einheit mit ihren Umwälzungen für den Bau der öffentlichen Infrastruktur und damit der Straßen setzte deutliche Akzente für die Tätigkeiten des Arbeitskreises. Resümierend stellt STEINER mit "erlaubter Unbescheidenheit" fest, dass sich der Ausschuss um das deutsche Straßenrecht verdient gemacht hat und aufgefordert ist, sein Engagement fortzusetzen. T. TEGTBAUER berichtet über Vergangenheit und Zukunft der Straßenbauverwaltung unter Berücksichtigung so bestimmender Faktoren wie Finanzmittelausstattung, nationale und globale Verkehrsentwicklung sowie Umsetzung des Bundesverkehrswegeplans und des Erhaltungszustandes des Bundesfernstraßennetzes. Anschaulich werden diese Schwerpunkte grafisch dargestellt. Anhand der vier Bausteine -Masterplan Güterverkehr und Logistik, - Public Private Partnership, - Neukonzeption des Bundesstraßennetzes und "Managementoptimierung wirft die Autorin einen Blick in die Zukunft der Straßenbauverwaltung. D. DRESCHER behandelt das Problemfeld der Kommunalisierung der Straßenbauverwaltung unter Wahrung der Länderinteressen. Die Verlagerung von Aufgaben der Länder auf die Kommunen entspricht einer Tendenz, die den Erfordernissen an eine effektive und moderne Verwaltung gerecht werden will und zugleich einer zielgerichteten und sparsamen Mittelverwendung dienen soll. Die Interessen der Länder bei einer Kommunalisierung von Aufgaben der Straßenbauverwaltung haben dabei vor allem die Einhaltung der gesetzlichen Vorschriften und der haushaltsrechtlichen Vorgaben sowie die Gewährleistung einer gleichbleibenden Qualität der Aufgabenerfüllung im Blick. Die Autorin zeigt die Ziele der Kommunalisierung auf und stellt sie anhand des Beispiels des Freistaates Sachsen dar. H.J. KLOFAT, Geschäftsführer der DEGES Deutsche Einheit Fernstraßenplanungs- und -bau GmbH, stellt die Rolle der DEGES in der deutschen Straßenverwaltung dar. Nach einem kurzen Blick in die Geschichte der Gesellschaft seit ihrer Gründung im Jahre 1991 definiert der Autor anhand von Grafiken die Ziele der Gesellschaft und präsentiert bisher Erreichtes. Der Weg der Aufgabenerfüllung von der Planung bis zum fertigen Produkt "Straße" wird ebenso dargestellt wie die darauf ausgerichteten Konzepte. Zu den technischen Kernpotenzialen zählen unter anderem die auf die jeweiligen Ziele zugeschnittenen Planungs- und Realisierungskompetenzen sowie ein hohes Innovationsvermögen im Ingenieurbau. Anhand beispielhaft dargestellter struktureller Potenziale und der Entwicklung von Perspektiven wirft der Autor einen Blick in die Zukunft der Gesellschaft und diskutiert ihre künftigen Aufgaben als Dienstleister der öffentlichen Auftraggeber.