Traffic Fatalities in Lusaka,Zambia

Abstract

From January 1, 1974 to December 31, 1976 a total of 1746 a total of 1746 medicolegal post-mortems were done by the Department of Forensic Medicine, University Teaching Hospital, Lusaka. Out of these 630 (36 per cent) were traffic fatalities—516 (82 per cent) were males and 114 (18 per cent) were females. More than half of the victims—375 (59·5 per cent)—were between 21 and 40 years of age; 292 (46 per cent) were pedestrians; 121 (19 per cent) were drivers; 173 (27 per cent) were passengers; and 44 (7 per cent) were on two wheelers. 201 (40 per cent) accidents occurred between 18.00–24.00 hours; 131 (21 per cent) occurred between 12.00–18.00 hours. 418 (65 per cent) victims died on the spot, 18 (3 per cent) died on the way to the hospital and 127 (20 per cent) died within 24 hours of the accident. 407 (65 per cent) had chest injuries, 301 (47 per cent) had head injuries, 233 (37 per cent) had abdominal injuries and 220 (35 per cent) received injuries to the limbs. Of 121 drivers, 43 (35·5 per cent) died due to chest injuries (steering wheel impact injuries) and out of 292 pedestrians 49 (17 per cent) died of head injuries only. 107 (64·5 per cent) pedestrians, 61 (66 per cent) drivers, 64 (56 per cent) passengers and 15 (52 per cent) on two wheelers were under the influence of alcohol at the time of the accident. 95 (57 per cent) pedestrians, 52 (56·5 per cent) drivers, 46 (40 per cent) passengers and 12 (41 per cent) two wheeler drivers had more than 100 mg% of alcohol in their blood. 427 (68 per cent) victims died of multiple injuries, 77 (12 per cent) died of head injuries, 55 (9 per cent) died of chest injuries, 27 (4 per cent) died of injuries to the abdomen and the other 44 (7 per cent) died of complications.