Experience with serious road traffic accidents in Finland and Lithuania

Abstract

Our main objective is to describe the experience in Finland and Lithuania regarding serious road traffic accidents. In Finland, serious road traffic injuries have been defined using MAIS3+ criteria for accidents since 2014, but in Lithuania serious injuries are not officially recorded. Comparing the experience of the two countries enhanced the information on serious road traffic injuries included in safety data. In the future, the use of MAIS3+ criteria is suggested for Lithuania as well. In addition to the comparison between countries, we analyse the underreporting of serious injuries and consequent bias, as well as parts of the body that suffer the most severe injuries. Finally, we present an in-depth study comparing casualties among pedestrians and bicyclists with casualty-car drivers and explain the results.