[Fatal accidents of motorcycle riders. Comparison of the craniocervical injury picture before and following introduction of the legally sanctioned protective helmet rule].

From 1982 to 1987 79 bodies of motorcycle riders have been dissected. Accident investigations by police proved, that 33 of them used protective helmets in the moment of accident, 40 of the victims were unhelmeted. In case of 6 accidents police investigations could not assign victims to one of those groups definitely. Our study demonstrates the change in injury patterns of the craniocervical region before and after introduction of liability for using protective helmets. We could determine, that the establishment of this law resulted in a significant recession of serious skull and brain injuries. On the other side we found a coincidental increase regarding injuries of craniocervical location, but mostly without fatal consequence.