Due to copyright issues, an electronic copy of the thesis must be ordered from the faculty. For the faculty to have time to process the order, the order must be received by the faculty at the latest 2 days before the public defence. Orders received later than 2 days before the defence will not be processed. After the public defence, please address any inquiries regarding the thesis to the candidate.
Trial Lecture – time and place
See Trial Lecture.
Adjudication committee
- First opponent: Associate Professor Christina Jacobsen, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
- Second opponent: Professor Torben Wisborg, UiT - Arctic University of Norway
- Third member and chair of the evaluation committee: Researcher Gudrun Høiseth, Universitetet i Oslo
Chair of the Defence
Professor II Signe Søvik, University of Oslo
Principal Supervisor
Professor II Arne Stray-Pedersen, University of Oslo
Summary
Vehicle accidents do not just happen but are caused by a variety of factors resulting in a collision with severe injury or death, and drivers aged 16-24 years have for a long time been over-represented in motor vehicle collisions (MVCs).
Between 2013 and 2016, we studied all motor vehicle collisions in southeastern Norway resulting in death or serious injury. Upon consent, we investigated the crash scene, the vehicles involved, the interior and exterior of the vehicle, and analyzed data from medical and forensic autopsy reports, and reports from police and civil road authorities.
High speed, nighttime driving, and impairment by alcohol and drugs were common driver-related factors resulting in a crash. The young drivers themselves caused the crashes in which they were injured. Rarely, it was due to the technical faults with the vehicles, but rather the skills and decisions of the driver that contributed to the incident.
The injury outcome could have been reduced if not for safety errors that included not wearing a seatbelt, wearing the seatbelt incorrectly (under the arm, behind the back, too high on the abdomen, or having a slouched sitting position due to a reclined seatback). Being hit directly or indirectly by loose objects or other unrestrained co-occupants, or driving old cars without airbags were other safety hazards.
A review of all autopsy reports of motor vehicle related fatalities in southeast Norway from 2000 to 2014 revealed that the majority of drivers die in actual accidents. Among these accidents, young men under the influence of alcohol and illegal drugs and older men over 55 years with cardiovascular disease were over-represented. A substantial proportion of drivers did not driver from injuries but from a medical illness that could explain the collision event, or were in fact suicides. These manners of deaths should be included in the official road traffic statistics.
Additional information
Contact the research support staff.