The investigation of road traffic mass injuries; an 18-wheel trailer collided with a private van on national highway road 4110 Thung Song – Thung Yai, Nakhon Si Thammarat Province, April 2-3, 2023

Abstract

Road traffic accidents cause a significant loss of life and property. On April 2–3, 2023, the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) from the Office of Disease Prevention and Control Region 11 Nakhon Si Thammarat and the Multidisciplinary Team investigated road traffic mass injuries. The purposes of this investigation were to describe the event, study the characteristics of injuries and deaths, identify factors associated with the accident, and suggest measures for accident preventions in the future. Information was gathered by reviewing medical records, interviewing the people involved in the event, and risk factors by period of the event were analyzed using the Haddon’ s Matrix method. The results showed that the event occurred on April 1, 2023, at about 05.53 a.m. on national highway road 4110 Thung Song – Thung Yai, Nakhon Si Thammarat. An 18-wheel trailer that was traveling in the right lane veered into the left lane and collided with a private van that was travelling. A total of 11 victims were injured. The median age was 35 years (range: 2 - 61). Of all the injured, there were six fatal cases (4 cases died on the spot), 4 cases of serious injuries and 1 case of minor injury. The cause of six deaths was attributed to severe chest injury. Factors that caused the accident include the driver of an 18-wheel trailer being physically tired and a lack of driving ability. Factors that caused severe injury and death were a strong collision causing the front cabin of the van to collapse. The driver and passengers were crammed into the car, four of them were not wearing seat belts and 3 cases were thrown out of the van, and their heads hit the pavement. It is recommended that (1) transportation business operators provide necessary trainings to their drivers to develop safe driving skills and strictly check the physical fitness of the drivers before traveling and (2) responsible agencies strictly enforce the laws requiring all passengers to wear seat belts.