Use of conjoint analysis to weight biosecurity practices on pasture-based dairy farms to develop a novel audit tool-BioscoreDairy.

Risk assessments are important tools to identify deficits in biosecurity management practices. A major strength of some existing tools is that they facilitate cross-country comparisons. However, a weakness is their failure to account for unique intra-national farming enterprise structures such as, for example, pasture-based dairying.

Seat belt injuries and external markings at autopsy in cases of lethal vehicle crashes.

A study was undertaken to determine what injuries are associated with the wearing of seat belts and if the presence of cutaneous seat belt markings observed on victims of lethal vehicle crashes increased the likelihood of underlying injury. Autopsy reports from the files at Forensic Science South Australia were reviewed for all fatal motor vehicle crashes from January 2014 to December 2018. A total of 173 cases were included for analysis with 127 occupants wearing seat belts at the time of impact (73.

Causes of fatalities in motor vehicle occupants: an overview.

Injuries from motor vehicle collisions are frequently encountered in routine forensic practice. While the most common lethal events involve blunt force trauma with injuries to the head and neck, chest, abdomen, pelvis and limbs, review of the literature and case files shows that a wide variety of other fatal situations can occur that may involve sharp force and penetrating trauma, incineration, drowning, asphyxia, organic diseases and combinations of these. The following overview details potential factors that may contribute to death following vehicle crashes.

Fatal blunt chest trauma: an evaluation of rib fracture patterns and age.

The following study was undertaken to determine if any specific occupant characteristics, crash factors, or associated injuries identified at autopsy could predict the occurrence or number of fractured ribs in adults. Data were accrued from the Traffic Accident Reporting System (TARS) and coronial autopsy reports from Forensic Science SA, Adelaide, South Australia, from January 2000 to December 2020. A total of 1475 motor vehicle fatalities were recorded in TARS between January 2000 and December 2020, and 1082 coronial autopsy reports were identified that corresponded to TARS fatal crash data.

Cardiac disease and driver fatality.

To determine the role of cardiac disease in driver fatalities, a retrospective review of autopsy files at Forensic Science SA in Adelaide, Australia, was undertaken over a 13-year-period January 2005-December 2017 for individuals aged ≥ 40 years who had died while driving a motor vehicle. The incidence of significant coronary artery atherosclerosis (CAA) and cardiomegaly was evaluated with comparisons between drivers and a control group of passengers. Autopsy examinations were performed on 303 drivers and 72 passengers who died of trauma and on 63 drivers who died of a cardiac event while driving.

Methamphetamine and alcohol detection in vehicle-driver fatalities in South Australia: A 10-year survey (2008-2018).

Motor vehicle driver fatalities (≥18 years) from the files at Forensic Science South Australia were reviewed from January 2008 to December 2018 for cases in which either positive blood sample for methamphetamine (MA) or an illegal blood alcohol concentration (BAC) >0.05g/100 ml were found. Three hundred driver deaths were found with MA detected in 28 cases (age range 21-62 years; ave.

Upper and lower limb amputations in vehicle-related fatalities.

Traumatic limb amputation is rare in occupants following a motor vehicle collision (MVC). A retrospective analysis of autopsy reports at Forensic Science South Australia (FSSA) over a 19 year period from January 2000 to December 2018 was performed to determine the incidence of limb amputation in lethal collisions and to identify predisposing factors. Only 18 cases (1.

Lethal mechanisms in cases of inverted suspension from the lap component of seat belts.

A retrospective review of autopsy files at Forensic Science South Australia in Adelaide, Australia, was undertaken over a five-year period from January 2014 to December 2018 for all motor vehicle crashes with rollovers ending with the vehicle inverted and the occupants suspended by the lap component of their seat belts. There were five cases, all male drivers (aged 18-67 years;  = 32 years). Acute neck flexion or head wedging was noted in four cases, with facial petechiae in four and facial congestion in one.

Seat belt asphyxia as a lethal mechanism in motor vehicle crashes.

A 28-year-old driver was found dead in his car after impact with a truck. At the scene he was seated in the driver's seat partially hanging out of the vehicle with the sash component of the seatbelt tightly pressed into his neck. At autopsy there was evidence of neck compression with bilateral conjunctival petechial hemorrhages and fracture of the right superior horn of the thyroid cartilage.

Childhood cycling fatalities in South Australia before and after the introduction of helmet legislation.

In the years following the introduction of legislation in Australian states mandating the wearing of helmets, there was a decline in the number of deaths. Debate has occurred, however, as to why this occurred. The Traffic Accident Reporting System database, which records data for all police-reported crashes in South Australia, was searched for all cases of deaths occurring in the state in bicycle riders aged ≤14 years from January 1982 to December 2001.

Factors involved in the assessment of paediatric traffic injuries and deaths.

Motor-vehicle collisions are the leading cause of unintentional injury and death in children in many parts of the world, including Europe, North America and Australia. The number of fatal collisions has decreased considerably in countries where safety measures such as child restraints, seat belts and air bags have been introduced, providing protection for children within vehicles, although it is recognised that there have been concomitant improvements in emergency responses and techniques, and in hospital treatments. Helmets and changes in external vehicle designs have been implemented to protect paediatric pedestrians and cyclists.