[Fatal traffic injuries in Southern Moravia over a 40-year period]

In 1948-1989 6,514 deaths occurred on the territory of Southern Moravia. All these subjects suffered traffic injuries and the injury was the cause of death. The authors recorded the age, sex, year and month of the accident, period of survival, type of communication where the accident occurred, type of participation and object causing injury, type of injury, site of death and day of the week when the injury occurred. The assessed values were computed by means of an IBM AT computer using a SELECTOR programme and language FORTRAN77. It was revealed that the number of deaths was much higher than expected from official statistics. The largest number of casualties is among pedestrians, almost half the subjects on records. People most frequently injured are young people between 20 and 24 years and elderly people. The most frequently injured part of the body is the brain, base of the skull, ribs, sternum and lower extremities. More than half the deaths occurred at the site of the accident or latest within three hours after the accident. Most frequently accidents occurred on class I highways where the traffic is most lively. The most frequent means of injury were cars.