The Cochran Firm Legal Blog

The May/June issue of the Archives of Facial Plastic Surgery has a report on how facial injuries caused by auto accidents have been decreasing. You can read the Summary here. They used a database of crashworthiness data for the years 1993 through 2005. In that period, there were 167,391 people who sustained one or more facial fractures in an automobile collision. There were also 55,150 who sustained skull fractures and 196,855 who suffered nasal fractures.

Researchers found that the total number of facial fractures decreased each year during that period. They associated it with increasing numbers of newer model cars being on the roads. Newer models have improved safety features.

Factors Affecting Facial Fractures

• Individuals most likely to receive facial fractures included those who:
• Are taller than average
• Were in a vehicle that increased its speed because of the collision
• Were in a vehicle that hit a stationary object, light truck, SUV or van
• Were in a side-impact collision

Researchers found that a person’s gender and weight made no difference at all in the likelihood of facial injury.

Seat Belts and Airbags
People who were wearing seatbelts at the time of the collision were significantly less likely to sustain any facial fracture, as were those who both wore seatbelts and had airbags in their vehicle. However, airbags alone did not make any significant difference.

The researchers stated in their conclusion that restraint use is the best way so far to prevent facial or skull injury and that further research is needed to learn more about how side impacts cause these injuries and how best to improve restraint systems for prevention of side impact injuries.

If you or a loved one has sustained a severe injury in any type of motor vehicle accident, please call or email our car accident attorneys today to schedule a free case evaluation and consultation.

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