Department of Surgery, Maine Medical Center, Portland, ME.
Department of Surgery, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Lebanon, NH.
J Am Coll Surg. 2019 Jun;228(6):941-947. doi: 10.1016/j.jamcollsurg.2018.12.041. Epub 2019 Mar 14.
Moose-motor vehicle collisions (MMVC) are especially dangerous to vehicle occupants because of the height and mass of the animal, which often collapses the roof and has a direct impact into the passenger compartment.
Public data on MMVC were obtained from the states of New England (NE), and trauma registry data from centers in NH and ME.
For all of NE, the annual incidence of reported MMVC has declined from a peak of >1,200 in 1998, but has still averaged >500 over the last 5 years, predominantly in ME, NH, and VT. Public education may have contributed to the decline, but the moose population has also apparently decreased due to environmental changes. In NE, MMVCs are most frequent in the summer months and evening hours. Maine data on crashes involving wild ungulates from 2003 to 2017 document 50,281 collisions with deer and 7,061 collisions with moose; 26 of the latter (0.37%) resulted in a human fatality. Logistic regression models demonstrate that vehicle occupant mortality, after controlling for multiple factors related to vehicle speed, is greatly increased when striking a moose rather than a deer (odds ratio [OR] 13.4, 95% CI 6.3, 28.7). In these data, there were no fatalities among occupants of Swedish cars, which are specifically engineered to tolerate MMVC. Three NH/ME trauma centers registered 124 cases of MMVC: median Injury Severity Score was 9; 5 patients died (4%); and 76 patients (61%) had injuries of the head, face, and/or cervical spine.
Moose-motor vehicle collisions remain a frequent and serious hazard to motor vehicle occupants in northern NE. Trauma services should recognize characteristic injury patterns. Continuing public education, cautious driving, and moose herd management are warranted.
驼鹿与机动车碰撞（MMVC）对车内乘客特别危险，因为动物的高度和质量，往往会导致车顶坍塌，并直接对乘客舱造成冲击。
从新英格兰（NE）各州获得有关 MMVC 的公共数据，并从 NH 和 ME 的中心获得创伤登记数据。
对于整个 NE，报告的 MMVC 年发生率已从 1998 年的>1200 高峰下降，但过去 5 年仍平均>500，主要在 ME、NH 和 VT。公众教育可能促成了这种下降，但由于环境变化，驼鹿数量显然也有所减少。在 NE，MMVC 最常发生在夏季和傍晚。2003 年至 2017 年缅因州关于涉及野生动物的碰撞数据记录了 50281 起与鹿的碰撞和 7061 起与驼鹿的碰撞；后者中有 26 起（0.37%）导致人员死亡。逻辑回归模型表明，在控制与车辆速度相关的多个因素后，与撞击鹿相比，撞击驼鹿会大大增加车辆乘客的死亡率（比值比[OR] 13.4，95%置信区间[CI] 6.3，28.7）。在这些数据中，乘坐瑞典汽车的乘客没有死亡，瑞典汽车专门设计可耐受 MMVC。NH/ME 的三个创伤中心登记了 124 例 MMVC：中位数损伤严重程度评分 9；5 名患者死亡（4%）；76 名患者（61%）有头部、面部和/或颈椎损伤。
在新英格兰北部，驼鹿与机动车碰撞仍然是机动车乘客频繁且严重的危险。创伤服务机构应认识到典型的损伤模式。持续的公众教育、谨慎驾驶和驼鹿群管理是必要的。
