Relationship between types of head injury and age of pedestrian

This paper explores the relationship between age and the different types of head injury received by pedestrians in traffic accidents with cars. The analysis is based on information collected by hospitals in England, and is supported by in-depth case examples. The principle result is that the risk of intracranial injury increases with age, whilst the risk of fracture to the head or facial bones remains relatively constant. This agrees with previous findings for other groups of casualties, which have reported that that the decrease in brain size leads to an increase in the relative motion of the skull and brain in an impact, with a corresponding increase in the risk of traumatic brain injury. Intracranial injuries have also been found to place the greatest burden on hospitals, which may have implications on automotive design if prevention of these injuries is to be prioritised over fractures of the skull.

► The relationship between age and pedestrian head injury was explored.
► Hospital data was used to calculate the risk of intracranial injury and fracture.
► The risk of intracranial injury was found to increase with age.
► The risk of fracture remained relatively constant with respect to age.
► Prevention of traumatic brain injury was identified as a priority for the future.