ISSN: 0022-1198
CODEN: JFSCA
Page Count: 3

Fatalities Involving Bicycles: A Non-random Population
Hawley, DA
Associate Professor, Professor, and Culbertson Professor, Indiana University School of Medicine, IN

Pless, JE
Associate Professor, Professor, and Culbertson Professor, Indiana University School of Medicine, IN

Clark, MA
Associate Professor, Professor, and Culbertson Professor, Indiana University School of Medicine, IN

(Received 15 May 1994; accepted 10 August 1994)

Abstract

Bicycle riders constitute a small subgroup of all roadway deaths. Bicycle/motor vehicle collision fatalities are less frequent than pedestrian/motor vehicle fatalities. Studies have shown that non-fatal injuries of bicyclists are not randomly distributed, but follow age and sex trends that differ in the U.S. and Scandinavia. Although the bicycle-related fatalities reviewed herein do not constitute a complete profile of all such cases within our geographic area, review of these cases does provide insight into the non-random population of fatally injured cyclists in urban and rural America. A retrospective demographic and forensic medical review of 36 bicycle-related fatalities was done to clarify features of this non-random population. Consistent features including age and sex, patterned injuries and risk-taking behavior are discussed. Three of 24 (12%) adult cyclists died of homicidal gunshot wounds.

Keywords:
pathology and biology, motor vehicle accidents, motor vehicle accident reconstruction, pattern recognition, postmortem examinations, patterned injuries, autopsy

Paper ID: JFS15342J
DOI: 10.1520/JFS15342J
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