ITARDA INFOMATION

  Presented here are three accident cases involving mini-trucks, which received fairly similar degree of impact upon collision. In two of the cases, the drivers were wearing seat belts: one was a non-senior driver who sustained a minor injury, and the other was a senior driver who suffered a serious chest injury. In the third case, the seat belt was not used, and the driver died due to an abdominal injury.

  Case 1: Seat belt used, slight injury to non-senior driver

  [Circumstances of Accident]
  Car A (an off-roader) entered the intersection after running a red light. Mini-truck B (a wagon), which was going through the intersection from the right side of Car A, crashed into the right front of Car A. The speed of Mini-truck B at the time of collision is estimated to be about 50 km/h.

  [Injury]
  The driver of Mini-truck B was a male, aged 26. Thanks to the seatbelt, he received only a minor scrape upon hitting his head against the windshield.




Case 2: Seat belt used, serious chest injury to senior driver [Circumstances of Accident] Mini-truck A entered the intersection without paying attention to safety, and collided into the right side of Car B (a minivan). The speed of Mini-truck A at the time of collision is believed to be about 25 km/h. [Injury] The driver of Mini-truck A was a male, aged 79. Although he was wearing a seat belt, his chest hit against the steering wheel. He suffered a serious injury of broken ribs.



Case 3: Seat belt not used, senior driver died from abdominal injury [Circumstances of Accident] Mini-truck A, while moving on a two-lane road, struck the rear of Car B (a sedan), which was waiting for a green light. The speed of Mini-truck A upon collision is estimated to be approximately 40 km/h. [Injury] Mini-truck A was driven by a male, aged 81. Not wearing a seat belt, he hit hard against the steering wheel, which jabbed his abdomen, and he died of visceral injury.

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Institute for Traffic Accident Research and Data Analysis (ITARDA)