Factors Influencing Fatalities or Severe Injuries to Pedestrians Lying on the Road in Japan: Nationwide Police Database Study

Abstract

To help reduce the number of pedestrians lying on the road suffering fatal or severe injuries as a result of vehicle collisions, we investigated the influencing factors. We conducted an analysis of the records of the Institute for Traffic Accident Research and Data Analysis Japan between 2012 and 2018; we found that 2452 pedestrians lying on the road were involved in collisions (797 fatalities, 784 severely injured, 871 mildly injured). Multivariate logistic regression analysis identified the following as major factors that positively influenced the fatalities: head or neck injuries (odds ratio [OR], 90.221); trunk injuries (OR, 71.040); trucks as offending vehicle (OR, 2.741); collision velocity of 10–20 km/h (OR, 31.794), 20–30 km/h (OR, 2.982), 30–40 km/h (OR, 8.394), 40–50 km/h (OR, 16.831), and >50 km/h (OR, 18.639); and hit-and-run cases (OR, 1.967). The following had a positive influence on severe injuries: trunk injuries (OR, 4.060); collision velocity of 10–20 km/h (OR, 2.540), 20–30 km/h (OR, 3.700), 30–40 km/h (OR, 5.297), 40–50 km/h (OR, 5.719), and ≥50 km/h (OR, 5.244); and hit-and-run cases (OR, 2.628). Decreasing the collision velocity, avoiding collisions to the head and neck or trunk, and preventing hit-and-run cases would be effective in reducing fatal or severe injuries to pedestrians lying on the road.

A 20-Year Review of Recumbent Pedestrian Fatalities (2001–2020)

“…The male preponderance of victims, average age, and high rate of alcohol intoxication at the time of the incident in this review corresponded with other studies 9,10 . Koh et al 10 reviewed Japanese fatalities or severe injuries to recumbent pedestrians, and similarly demonstrated that these incidents mostly occur during night time, with the most frequent type of vehicle a passenger car.…”

Fatalities of Pedestrians Lying on the Road

“…In this context, such collisions would occur more frequently in rural areas. Concomitant with the study by Tiemensma and Byard, 1 we emphasized the importance of preventing fatalities after collisions between vehicles and pedestrians lying on the road 2,3 …”

“…In Japan, among all collisions between vehicles and recumbent pedestrians from 2012 to 2018, fatalities accounted for 797 cases, severe injuries needing 30 or more days' treatment for 784 cases, and mild injuries for 871 cases 3 . Therefore, as in Australia, significant numbers of nonfatal collisions between vehicles and recumbent pedestrians have been documented.…”

“…According to our study based on the nationwide police database in Japan, among vehicle-pedestrian collisions, only 8.3% of fatalities involved pedestrians who had been lying on the road. 2,3 We surmised that the disparity in these rates might be due to urban-rural differences. The Australian study was performed in Northern Territory, which is predominantly rural, and vehicle velocity generally is higher in rural than in urban areas.…”

“…Our previous study suggested that vehicle collision velocities of 30 to 40, 40 to 50, and more than 50 km/h were significant predictive factors of fatalities among pedestrians lying on the road, with odds ratios (ORs) of 8.4, 16.8, and 18.6, respectively. 3 In this context, such collisions would occur more frequently in rural areas. Concomitant with the study by Tiemensma and Byard, 1 we emphasized the importance of preventing fatalities after collisions between vehicles and pedestrians lying on the road.…”