Pedestrian electric-scooter fatality: A case report

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Abstract

Electric scooters are one of the most popular means of individual mobility. The active use of this two-wheeled transport on sidewalks and public roads is naturally reflected in the number of road incidents, including fatal ones. No information has been provided about the damage received by pedestrians as a result of the collision of electric scooters, and the question of the most traumatic parts of the human body with such injuries today remains to be elucidated.

This case report describes a 75-year-old patient from practice that demonstrates the mechanism, type, and nature of injury sustained at a pedestrian when an electric scooter hits him. Citizen A sustained a head injury during the fall and was hospitalized in a medical institution, where he subsequently died. During autopsy, changes were found about the exact mechanism of their formation in a scooter injury.

According to the literature, injuries associated with the collision of electric scooters mainly occur during the fall with the formation of bone fractures in the upper and lower extremities. Torso injury, according to various authors, is extremely rare, and the nature of the damage and the category of victims in these studies are generally not detailed. This case confirms the possibility of the formation of primary and secondary contact injuries in various parts of the body of a pedestrian. In addition, the case allows the possibility of identifying the means of individual mobility based on the presence of a steering wheel.

About the authors

Maxim S. Siedin

Moscow Regional Research and Clinical Institute; Bureau of Forensic Medical Examination

Author for correspondence.
Email: dablV1@mail.ru
ORCID iD: 0000-0002-4724-4008
SPIN-code: 9483-6751

MD

Russian Federation, Moscow; Kursk

Semyon S. Plis

Moscow Regional Research and Clinical Institute

Email: SSPlis.work@gmail.com
ORCID iD: 0000-0002-0232-0425
SPIN-code: 4347-1925
Russian Federation, Moscow

Vladimir A. Klevno

Moscow Regional Research and Clinical Institute

Email: vladimir.klevno@yandex.ru
ORCID iD: 0000-0001-5693-4054
SPIN-code: 2015-6548

MD, Dr. Sci. (Med.), Professor

Russian Federation, Moscow

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2. Fig. 1. Bodily injuries during external examination of the corpse: а ― is an abrasion of the occipital region; b ― is a T-shaped bruise on the anterior surface of the trunk (indicated by arrow 1), against which there is an irregularly oval-shaped precipitation (indicated by arrow 2).

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3. Fig. 2. Examination of the cranial cavity: а ― hemorrhage in the soft tissues of the head (indicated by arrow 1), Y-shaped fracture of the skull (indicated by arrow 2); b ― subarachnoid hemorrhages on the basal surface of the brain.

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