Road Safety
Medical Conditions as a Contributing Factor in Crash Causation
- Publication no: AP-R389-11
- ISBN: 978-1-921709-94-4
- Published: 14 September 2011
- PDF (free) Download
The main purpose of the current study was to determine the extent to which a pre-existing medical condition or acute medical event was a contributing factor in crash causation for a representative sample of casualty crashes. The study involved examination of the circumstances surrounding drivers, riders, cyclists and pedestrians involved in casualty crashes on public roads in South Australia who were admitted to the Royal Adelaide Hospital over the three year period from January 2008 to December 2010.
- 1. INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND
- 2. METHOD
- 2.1. Overview
- 2.2. Medical records
- 2.2.1. South Australian Ambulance Service (SAAS) and/or Medical Retrieval records
- 2.2.2. Emergency Department records
- 2.2.3. Hospital in-patient records
- 2.3. Police generated records
- 2.3.1. Vehicle Collision Reports
- 2.3.2. Traffic Accident Reporting System
- 2.4. Licensing records
- 2.5. Forensic Science records
- 2.6. Results
- 3. THE SAMPLE
- 3.1. Data sources
- 3.1.1. Hospital medical records
- 3.1.2. Police Records
- 3.1.3. Licensing records
- 3.1.4. Forensic Science records
- 3.1.5. Summary of successful matching of the multidisciplinary data sources
- 3.2. Person characteristics
- 3.2.1. Road user type
- 3.2.2. Age and sex distribution
- 3.2.3. Age distribution by road user
- 3.2.4. Sex distribution by road user
- 3.2.5. Injury severity and length of hospitalisation
- 3.2.6. Pre-existing medical conditions
- 3.3. Crash characteristics
- 3.3.1. Time of day and day of week of crash
- 3.3.2. Location of crash
- 3.3.3. Crash site speed zones
- 3.3.4. Site of crash
- 3.3.5. Type of crash
- 3.3.6. At-fault status for crash
- 3.3.7. Crash experience
- 3.4. Licensing characteristics
- 3.4.1. Licence type at time of crash
- 3.4.2. Conditions to licence holding
- 3.4.3. Infringement experience
- 4. MEDICAL CONDITIONS AS A CONTRIBUTING FACTOR IN CRASH CAUSATION
- 4.1. Loss of consciousness leading to crash
- 4.2. Seizure event leading to crash
- 4.3. Mental illness leading to crash
- 4.4. Suicide attempt leading to crash
- 4.5. General poor health and declining function leading to crash
- 4.6. Dementia and cognitive decline leading to crash:
- 4.7. Hypoglycaemia (low blood glucose) leading to crash
- 4.8. Sleep apnoea leading to crash
- 4.9. Cardiac events leading to crash
- 4.10. CVA (stroke) leading to crash
- 4.11. Other neurological condition or event leading to crash
- 4.12. Visual deficits leading to crash
- 4.13. Other medical conditions leading to crash
- 5. IMPAIRED DRIVING AS THE RESULT OF ALCOHOL AND ILLICIT DRUGS
- 5.1. Impairment as the result of alcohol in crash
- 5.1.1. Medical condition cases confounded by alcohol intoxication
- 5.1.2. Acute alcohol intoxication in the context of known alcohol dependence
- 5.2. Impairment as the result of illicit drugs in crash
- 5.2.1. Medical condition cases confounded by illicit drug use
- 6. COMPARING MEDICAL CONDITION GROUP WITH REMAINING SAMPLE
- 6.1. Person characteristics
- 6.1.1. Road user type
- 6.1.2. Age distribution
- 6.1.3. Injury severity and length of hospitalisation
- 6.2. Crash characteristics
- 6.2.1. Time and day and day of week of crash
- 6.2.2. Location of crash
- 6.2.3. Crash site speed zones
- 6.2.4. Site of crash
- 6.2.5. Type of crash
- 6.2.6. At-fault status for crash
- 6.2.7. Crash experience
- 6.3. Licensing characteristics
- 6.3.1. Conditions to licence holding
- 7. DISCUSSION
- 8. STUDY LIMITATIONS
- 9. CONCLUSION
- REFERENCES
- APPENDIX 1 - Reasons for exclusion from study
- APPENDIX 2 - Identified pre-existing medical conditions found for all participants
Related publications
Latest Road Safety News