Int J Leg Med (1992) 104 : 355-356
International Journal of
Legal Medicine © Springer-Verlag 1992
Tyre tread marks on the body without internal injuries Tsuneo Suzuki I and Ryuetsu Sato 2 1Department of Forensic Medicine, Yamagata University School of Medicine, Yamagata 990-23, Japan 2Traffic Department, Yamagata Pref. Police H.Q., Yamagata 990, Japan Received July 16, 1991 / Received in revised form October 7, 1991
Summary. T w o cases are p r e s e n t e d involving a 5-yearold b o y with tyre tread impressions on the back and right a r m and a 4-year-old girl with tread marks on the h e a d but b o t h had no internal injuries. These cases suggest that injuries to internal organs do not always occur w h e n the t r u n k or h e a d is run over by the wheels of a vehicle.
Key words: Traffic accident - R u n over injury
take the ball with his hand. At that moment the truck started and its left rear tyre ran over his back and right arm. Afterwards he stood up by himself and could walk. He had tyre marks and small abrasions on his back and right arm (Fig. 2). Despite detailed physical examination no internal injuries would be found. The child is now 18 years old and in apparent good health. Case 2. In 1979, a 4-year-old girl who had been playing behind a lton passenger car (Fig. 3) fell to the ground and the car was dri-
Zusammenfassung. Ein 5j~ihriger K n a b e mit d e m A b d r u c k eines Lkw-Reifenprofils auf ROcken und r e c h t e m A r m u n d ein 4jfihriges M~idchen mit d e m A b d r u c k y o n e i n e m Pkw-Reifenprofil auf d e m K o p f o h n e innere Verletzungen w e r d e n vorgestellt. Die F~ille zeigen, dab es nicht i m m e r zur Z e r r e i g u n g von O r g a n e n des Brust-, Bauch- oder K o p f r a u m e s k o m m e n m u g , wenn der R u m p f o d e r der K o p f 0berrollt wurde. Schliisselw6rter: Verkehrsunfall - U b e r r o l l v e r l e t z u n g
Introduction It is well k n o w n that if a p e r s o n is run over by a vehicle a crushing type o f t r a u m a occurs. Severe crushing injuries of organs usually occure and are as a rule, obvious [1, 2] but the severity d e p e n d s on the weight of the vehicle and its g r o u n d clearance [3]. H o w e v e r , authentic cases of running over have also b e e n described in which " j u m p i n g " of the wheels has occurred, thus reducing the extent of crushing injuries to a m i n i m u m and involving only o n e side of the b o d y [3]. H o w e v e r cases such as the 2 r e p o r t e d here with tyre tread m a r k s on the b o d y but no internal injuries have not b e e n reported.
Fig. 1. 2ton-truck, whose left rear tyre ran over a 5-year-old boy
Case reports Case 1. In 1978, a 5-year-old boy was playing with a ball, which rolled under a 2ton-truck (Fig. 1). He crawled under the truck to Offprint requests to: T. Suzuki
Fig. 2. Tyre tread mark and abrasions on the back and right arm of the 5-year-old boy
356
Fig. 3.1ton-passenger car whose left rear tyre ran over a 4-year-old girl
ven backwards over the child. The driver got out of his car and saw the child lying in front of the left rear tyre. The medical examination revealed a tyre tread mark on the right side of her head and small abrasions on the left jaw, but no internal injuries. The girl is now 16 years old, and in good health.
T. Suzuki and R. Sato: Tread marks on body necessarily occur in y o u n g p e o p l e despite being run over by a vehicle [5]. It is possible that the y o u n g age of the victims in the present cases played an i m p o r t a n t role in the lack of internal injuries. In addition, b o t h children were run over by the rear tyre of a vehicle that slowly started to roll. Schmidt ascertained that s o m e of the load a d d e d by a tyre to the b o d y is r e d u c e d by the lift of the tyre w h e n the b o d y is run over slowly [8] and this could be the explanation in the 2 cases described here. Since it can be seen f r o m the p h o t o g r a p h in the first case that tyre marks on the left back are missing (Fig. 2), it w o u l d seem that an incomplete running over has occured. This could explain the survival of the child and lack of severe injuries. In the second case, the facts were confirmed by an a m b u l a n c e man, a police officer and a medical doctor, but u n f o r t u n a t e l y no p h o t o g r a p h s were taken to d o c u m e n t the observations.
Acknowledgement. The authors thank Dr. Michio Makabe for his information of the second case
Discussion A detailed r e p o r t on the mechanisms of running over has b e e n carried out by Kassai [4]. H e r e p o r t e d that w h e n the h e a d is run over a burst fracture of skull occurs and that running over the trunk can cause rib fractures, thoracic and l u m b a r spine fractures and crushing injuries of organs in the thoracic and the a b d o m i n a l cavities [5, 6]. These injuries can assist the investigation to determine w h e t h e r the victim was run over or not [7]. In the 2 cases described here no internal injuries were f o u n d despite the fact that the victims were run over in the trunk or h e a d regions and show that these types of accidents m a y not always cause crushing injuries of the organs in cranial, thoracic or a b d o m i n a l cavities. B o t h cases were children, a 5-year-old b o y and a 4year-old girl and it is k n o w n that fractures must not
References 1. Forster B (1986) Praxis der Rechtsmedizin fiir Mediziner und Juristen. Thieme, Stuttgart New York, pp 110-112 2. Weinig E, Schmidt G (1961) Besondere Identifizierungsmerkmale bei Kraftfahrzeugreifen. Arch Kriminol 127 : 22-34 3. Camps FE (1976) Gradwohl's legal medicine, 3rd edn. Wright, Bristol, pp 285-289.. 4. Kassai A (1943) Uber den Mechanismus des Oberfahrens. Dtsch Z Ges Gerichtl Med 37 : 52-63 5. Mueller B (1975) Gerichtliche Medizin, 2. Aufl. Springer, Berfin Heidelberg New York, pp 673-679 6. Schwerd W (1986) Rechtsmedizin, Lehrbuch fiir Mediziner und Juristen, 4. Aufl. Deutscher Arzte-Verlag, K61n, pp 57-58 7. Prokop O, G6hler W (1976) Forensische Medizin, 3. Aufl. Fischer, Stuttgart New York, pp 210-218 8. Schmidt G (1987) Identification of footwear and tire impressions. J Can Soc Forensic Sci 20: 24
International Journal of
Legal Medicine © Springer-Verlag 1992
Tyre tread marks on the body without internal injuries Tsuneo Suzuki I and Ryuetsu Sato 2 1Department of Forensic Medicine, Yamagata University School of Medicine, Yamagata 990-23, Japan 2Traffic Department, Yamagata Pref. Police H.Q., Yamagata 990, Japan Received July 16, 1991 / Received in revised form October 7, 1991
Summary. T w o cases are p r e s e n t e d involving a 5-yearold b o y with tyre tread impressions on the back and right a r m and a 4-year-old girl with tread marks on the h e a d but b o t h had no internal injuries. These cases suggest that injuries to internal organs do not always occur w h e n the t r u n k or h e a d is run over by the wheels of a vehicle.
Key words: Traffic accident - R u n over injury
take the ball with his hand. At that moment the truck started and its left rear tyre ran over his back and right arm. Afterwards he stood up by himself and could walk. He had tyre marks and small abrasions on his back and right arm (Fig. 2). Despite detailed physical examination no internal injuries would be found. The child is now 18 years old and in apparent good health. Case 2. In 1979, a 4-year-old girl who had been playing behind a lton passenger car (Fig. 3) fell to the ground and the car was dri-
Zusammenfassung. Ein 5j~ihriger K n a b e mit d e m A b d r u c k eines Lkw-Reifenprofils auf ROcken und r e c h t e m A r m u n d ein 4jfihriges M~idchen mit d e m A b d r u c k y o n e i n e m Pkw-Reifenprofil auf d e m K o p f o h n e innere Verletzungen w e r d e n vorgestellt. Die F~ille zeigen, dab es nicht i m m e r zur Z e r r e i g u n g von O r g a n e n des Brust-, Bauch- oder K o p f r a u m e s k o m m e n m u g , wenn der R u m p f o d e r der K o p f 0berrollt wurde. Schliisselw6rter: Verkehrsunfall - U b e r r o l l v e r l e t z u n g
Introduction It is well k n o w n that if a p e r s o n is run over by a vehicle a crushing type o f t r a u m a occurs. Severe crushing injuries of organs usually occure and are as a rule, obvious [1, 2] but the severity d e p e n d s on the weight of the vehicle and its g r o u n d clearance [3]. H o w e v e r , authentic cases of running over have also b e e n described in which " j u m p i n g " of the wheels has occurred, thus reducing the extent of crushing injuries to a m i n i m u m and involving only o n e side of the b o d y [3]. H o w e v e r cases such as the 2 r e p o r t e d here with tyre tread m a r k s on the b o d y but no internal injuries have not b e e n reported.
Fig. 1. 2ton-truck, whose left rear tyre ran over a 5-year-old boy
Case reports Case 1. In 1978, a 5-year-old boy was playing with a ball, which rolled under a 2ton-truck (Fig. 1). He crawled under the truck to Offprint requests to: T. Suzuki
Fig. 2. Tyre tread mark and abrasions on the back and right arm of the 5-year-old boy
356
Fig. 3.1ton-passenger car whose left rear tyre ran over a 4-year-old girl
ven backwards over the child. The driver got out of his car and saw the child lying in front of the left rear tyre. The medical examination revealed a tyre tread mark on the right side of her head and small abrasions on the left jaw, but no internal injuries. The girl is now 16 years old, and in good health.
T. Suzuki and R. Sato: Tread marks on body necessarily occur in y o u n g p e o p l e despite being run over by a vehicle [5]. It is possible that the y o u n g age of the victims in the present cases played an i m p o r t a n t role in the lack of internal injuries. In addition, b o t h children were run over by the rear tyre of a vehicle that slowly started to roll. Schmidt ascertained that s o m e of the load a d d e d by a tyre to the b o d y is r e d u c e d by the lift of the tyre w h e n the b o d y is run over slowly [8] and this could be the explanation in the 2 cases described here. Since it can be seen f r o m the p h o t o g r a p h in the first case that tyre marks on the left back are missing (Fig. 2), it w o u l d seem that an incomplete running over has occured. This could explain the survival of the child and lack of severe injuries. In the second case, the facts were confirmed by an a m b u l a n c e man, a police officer and a medical doctor, but u n f o r t u n a t e l y no p h o t o g r a p h s were taken to d o c u m e n t the observations.
Acknowledgement. The authors thank Dr. Michio Makabe for his information of the second case
Discussion A detailed r e p o r t on the mechanisms of running over has b e e n carried out by Kassai [4]. H e r e p o r t e d that w h e n the h e a d is run over a burst fracture of skull occurs and that running over the trunk can cause rib fractures, thoracic and l u m b a r spine fractures and crushing injuries of organs in the thoracic and the a b d o m i n a l cavities [5, 6]. These injuries can assist the investigation to determine w h e t h e r the victim was run over or not [7]. In the 2 cases described here no internal injuries were f o u n d despite the fact that the victims were run over in the trunk or h e a d regions and show that these types of accidents m a y not always cause crushing injuries of the organs in cranial, thoracic or a b d o m i n a l cavities. B o t h cases were children, a 5-year-old b o y and a 4year-old girl and it is k n o w n that fractures must not
References 1. Forster B (1986) Praxis der Rechtsmedizin fiir Mediziner und Juristen. Thieme, Stuttgart New York, pp 110-112 2. Weinig E, Schmidt G (1961) Besondere Identifizierungsmerkmale bei Kraftfahrzeugreifen. Arch Kriminol 127 : 22-34 3. Camps FE (1976) Gradwohl's legal medicine, 3rd edn. Wright, Bristol, pp 285-289.. 4. Kassai A (1943) Uber den Mechanismus des Oberfahrens. Dtsch Z Ges Gerichtl Med 37 : 52-63 5. Mueller B (1975) Gerichtliche Medizin, 2. Aufl. Springer, Berfin Heidelberg New York, pp 673-679 6. Schwerd W (1986) Rechtsmedizin, Lehrbuch fiir Mediziner und Juristen, 4. Aufl. Deutscher Arzte-Verlag, K61n, pp 57-58 7. Prokop O, G6hler W (1976) Forensische Medizin, 3. Aufl. Fischer, Stuttgart New York, pp 210-218 8. Schmidt G (1987) Identification of footwear and tire impressions. J Can Soc Forensic Sci 20: 24
