%0 Journal Article
%T Medico legal aspects of injuries sustained by occupants of three wheelers in road traffic crashes: a study conducted in a tertiary care hospital in the central province of Sri Lanka
%A A. N. Vadysinghe
%A D. H. Edussuriya
%A K. V. U. K. S. Bandara
%J Sri Lanka Journal of Forensic Medicine, Science & Law
%D 2019
%R 10.4038/sljfmsl.v10i1.7805
%X <p class="Default"><strong>Introduction: </strong>Injuries and death due to road traffic accidents (RTA) are a major public health problem in third world countries like Sri Lanka. Sixteen percent of all vehicles used in Sri Lanka are three-wheelers. Statistics reveal a high incidence of impacts involving three-wheelers in Sri Lanka.</p><p class="Default"><strong>£¿</strong></p><p class="Default"><strong>Objectives: </strong>To determine the nature of the incident, nature of injuries and mechanism of causation of injury due to road traffic crashes among patients admitted to a tertiary care unit in Kandy, Sri Lanka.</p><p class="Default"><strong>£¿</strong></p><p class="Default"><strong>Methodology: </strong>Data on socio-demographic profile, type of occupant, nature of the incident, mechanism of causation of injury, type of injury, region of the body affected and severity of injury were retrieved from Medico-Legal Examination Forms (MLEF)of patients admitted after three-wheeler crashes to the Teaching Hospital Peradeniya from 2016 to 2018. Data were analyzed using SPSS VERSION22.</p><p class="Default"><strong>£¿</strong></p><p class="Default"><strong>£¿</strong></p><p class="Default"><strong>Results: </strong>The commonest incident was the toppling of the vehicle (55%). Most injuries were sustained by the impact on an object inside the three-wheeler (44%). The commonest injury seen was abrasion (63%) and the majority of injuries were non-grievous (68%). Lower limb was the most affected (45%). More rear passengers were injured than drivers (62%). There was no significant difference in injury pattern between driver and rear passenger group.</p><p class="Default"><strong>£¿</strong></p><p class="Default"><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Toppling was the commonest type of incident with most injuries being abrasions and sustained by rear-seat passengers by the impact on objects within the three-wheeler.</p><p class="Default"><strong>£¿</strong></p><strong>Recommendations: </strong>It is imperative that drivers and passengers are educated regarding safety measures and traffic laws
%U https://sljfmsl.sljol.info/articles/10.4038/sljfmsl.v10i1.7805/