A NASS-Based Investigation of Pelvic Injury within the Motor Vehicle Crash Environment

Automotive collision data from the National Accident Sampling System database (compiled by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) was analyzed in regard to occupants who sustained major pelvic injuries during 1980-1992. These injuries included pelvic fracture, pelvic dislocation, pelvic separation, pelvic crush, and pelvic fracture/dislocation. All collisions analyzed were required to have a computed change in velocity during the collision, as well as data concerning injuries sustained by the occupants. The purpose of this research was to retrospectively analyze motor vehicle crash data to establish incidence of major pelvic injuries within automotive collisions. From the study, 1.8% of all collisions evaluated resulted in major pelvic injuries. Twenty-two percent of all crashes were side impact collisions and 8% of these side impact collisions resulted in occupants sustaining major pelvic injuries. The most frequent vehicle body type involved in collisions that resulted in pelvic injury was the automobile. Occupants who sustained pelvic injury in automobile collisions were most frequently between the ages of 16 and 20. Seventy-eight percent of all pelvic injuries, sustained in automobile collisions, occurred at delta Vs below 30 mph.