Characteristics of the fatal pedestrian crashes in south-west China: implication for prevention and emergency care

The purpose of this study is to provide an overview of the characteristics and patterns of injuries caused by fatal pedestrian crashes in south-west China and to discuss some of the public health issues. A scientific team was formed to conduct an in-depth investigation and collect fatal pedestrian crashes occurring between April 2012 and December 2018. The overall distribution was analysed and illustrated. Each killed pedestrian was classified into different groups by age and death outcome. Cross-tabulations were used to identify variables that differed three age groups and the injury characteristics were compared using multivariate statistical methods. A total of 704 fatal crashes with an impact speed of 12-159 km/h were investigated and the pedestrians with an average age of 58.6 ± 18.8 years were enrolled. 55% of the pedestrians died at the scene and 76% died within 24 hours. Head injury was the leading cause of deaths with a rate of 87.7%. Temporal (33.2%) and rib fracture (56.3%) was the most common injury patterns. Our study demonstrates that limiting vehicle speed in urban roads and enhancing road traffic safety education for the elderly are effective ways to prevent pedestrian deaths. And strengthening the emergency rescue ability to head injury at the scene is the most effective way to reduce pedestrian fatality.