Analyzing lower extremity injury profiles of pedestrian traffic fatalities according to vehicle type
Graduation Date
Spring 2020
Document Type
Thesis
Program
Master of Arts degree with a major in Applied Anthropology
Committee Chair Name
Ariel Gruenthal-Rankin
Committee Chair Affiliation
HSU Faculty or Staff
Second Committee Member Name
Marissa Ramsier
Second Committee Member Affiliation
HSU Faculty or Staff
Third Committee Member Name
Mary Scoggin
Third Committee Member Affiliation
HSU Faculty or Staff
Keywords
Forensic anthropology, Motor vehicle collisions, Automobile versus pedestrian, Skeletal trauma analysis, Fracture pattern
Subject Categories
Anthropology
Abstract
Skeletal trauma analysis of motor vehicle collisions has the potential to support or contradict reported collision circumstances. This project analyzed the skeletal injuries that pedestrians sustain in fatal collisions according to vehicle types (car, truck, SUV, van, bus, semi, etc.). Data were collected from reports and databases related to cases that occurred in King County, Washington. The pelvis and lower extremities of the body were analyzed for the frequency of skeletal fractures, grouped by pelvis, femora, patellae, tibiae, and fibulae skeletal groups. A Kruskal-Wallis test showed an overall no significant difference (P<0.05) in fracture quantity in skeletal regions between different vehicle groups. A multiple pairwise comparison using Dunn’s procedure also found no significant differences between vehicle type groups. A Partial Least Squares Discriminant Analysis showed an overall success rate of 37.29% when classifying injury profiles to vehicle type. The findings of this project can be applied to further research into the skeletal analysis of automobile versus pedestrian collisions. Low classification rates suggest that fracture frequency alone should not be used to assist in associating injuries with potential vehicle types in medicolegal investigations. Rather, the findings of this project lead the researcher to recommend that investigators and forensic practitioners move towards standardization in the quality and type of collected data—specific recommendations being the collection of actual speed and inclusion of full-body imaging in postmortem examinations to enable more detailed analyses.
Citation Style
APA
Recommended Citation
Scheer, Jacqulyn M., "Analyzing lower extremity injury profiles of pedestrian traffic fatalities according to vehicle type" (2020). Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects. 366.
https://digitalcommons.humboldt.edu/etd/366