Vehicular Suicides

Abstract

a thirty-seven-year-old man died on easter sunday of blunt trunk trauma following a single automobile crash in which he was the driver and sole occupant. Seven fresh superficial stab wounds on the lower chest and three incised wounds on the left palm were noted as well as several linear scars in the epigastrium, left antecubital fossa, and left wrist. Toxicological studies were negative for alcohol and psychotropic drugs. The above unusual injuries prompted a further investigation. The incident took place in the early evening with good driving conditions on a straight portion of an interstate throughway. The victim’s vehicle left the roadway and traveled 480 ft (146.30 m) in a straight line before colliding into a concrete pillar of an overpass. The decedent had had a problem with alcohol, difficulty keeping a job, and disabling ankylosing spondylitis. Two weeks before the fatal crash he had been taken to a hospital by ambulance because of multiple self-inflicted superficial stab and incised wounds of the epigastrium and left arm. He admitted his suicidal intention at that time.