Abstract: Objective To explore the forensic identification points of deaths caused by secondary damages of road traffic accidents. Methods Seventeen deaths caused by secondary damages of road traffic accidents were collected. Through scene investigation and necropsy, the basic information of the accidents, distribution and property of the injuries, and other information were collected. According to the collected data, the scene was reconstructed in order to confirm the injury process, analyze the way, mechanism and severity of injury, distinguish antemortem injury from postmortem injury, and determine the cause of deaths. Results Certain features such as serious injuries, multiple traumas, combined injuries, co-existence of antemortem and postmortem injuries, multiple causes of wounds, complex injury mechanism, as well as the mutual damaging and overlapping injuries were quite characteristically noted in these secondary traffic accident cases. Conclusion Forensic assessment of deaths caused by secondary damages of road traffic accidents should be synthetically analyzed and judged through scene investigation and necropsy.

Key words: forensic pathology, accidents, traffic, wounds and injuries