Forensic Science International 207 (2011) e12–e15

Case report

Suicide of a cyclist

Ulrike Schmidt *, Thomas Rost, Lara Jungmann, Stefan Pollak

Institute of Legal Medicine, Freiburg University Medical Center, Albertstr. 9, 79104 Freiburg, Germany

A R T I C L E I N F O

Article history:

Received 10 September 2010

Received in revised form 14 October 2010

Accepted 21 November 2010

Available online 22 December 2010

Keywords:

Suicide

Road traffic suicide

Bicycle suicide

Methods of suicide

A B S T R A C T

The rate of suicides in road traffic fatalities is estimated at 1–8% depending on the investigated study

material. Especially single-car accidents, for which no technical reason or driving error is apparent, are

considered suspicious. The elucidation of suicides in road traffic is difficult if there are no relevant clues

such as the announcement of suicide plans shortly before the event or a suicide note. Individuals who

intentionally kill themselves in road traffic often have a history of mental illness.

The authors report on a suicide using a bicycle. A 71-year-old man intentionally drove into the wall of

a house situated at the end of a hill road and suffered an open craniocerebral trauma and an aortic

rupture. The pattern of findings and the circumstances of the case are described.

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1. Introduction

The assessment of injuries caused by road traffic accidents isroutine in medicolegal case work. The reconstruction of anaccident requires a multi-disciplinary approach, and medicolegalfindings will often be essential. The task is particularly difficult ifthe circumstances of the case suggest that the road traffic fatalitywas induced intentionally by the victim himself [1].

According to the causes of death statistics kept by the GermanCentral Statistics Office, 4774 deaths caused by means of transportoccurred in 2008, which included 4626 deaths due to road traffic[2]. For the same period, 61 road traffic-associated suicides wererecorded (1.3%). Generally, the rate of suicides in road traffic isestimated to range between 1 and 8%, e.g. [3–5]. Especially single-car accidents that cannot be explained by the technical condition ofthe car or driving errors cause suspicion [6]. However, if there areno conclusive hints such as a suicide note, a reliable diagnosis isdifficult.

In the following, the authors present the case of a 71-year-oldman who committed suicide by intentionally crashing into a wallusing his bicycle. According to the literature available to us, this isthe first proven case of such an event.

* Corresponding author at: Institut fur Rechtsmedizin, Albertstr. 9, D-79104

Freiburg, Germany. Tel.: +49 761 203 6830; fax: +49 761 203 6858.

E-mail address: ulrike.schmidt@uniklinik-freiburg.de (U. Schmidt).

0379-0738/$ – see front matter � 2010 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

doi:10.1016/j.forsciint.2010.11.023

2. Case report

A 71-year-old man was found lying on the road at a villagejunction (30 km/h zone) with severe head injuries on a Sundayshortly after midnight (Fig. 1a). The bicycle he had obviously usedstill lay between his legs. Resuscitation attempts were unsuccess-ful, and death was certified still at the scene. As a traffic accidentwas assumed, the traffic police was called. Further investigationsshowed that the man had been reported missing by his life partnerthe day before. She had found a suicide note disclosing the man’sintention to commit suicide for fear of dementia. Thus, the casewas taken over by the criminal investigation department.

2.1. Scene

Trace evidence showed that the cyclist had rolled down ahill road (gradient of 9.5% decreasing to approx. 3% at the finalposition of the body). At the time of the event the road surface hadbeen dry and the street lamp lighting the junction had beenproperly working.

On the wall of the building located at the junction, which wascovered with the usual roughcast, traces of blood, tissue and headhair were found at a mean level of 155 (145–170) cm above thestreet (Fig. 1b). Below this impact site, the wall showed scratchmarks up to a level of 55 cm as well as black rubbed-off particlesoriginating from the front tyre of the bike at a level of 25–40 cm.Between the building’s wall and the final position of the cyclist,fragments of plastic from the bicycle’s damaged front light andfurther traces of blood were detected.

[()TD$FIG]

Fig. 1. (a) Scene of the bicycle crash shortly after midnight with the corpse still lying

in front of the house. (b) Close-up view of the wall at the impact site.

[()TD$FIG]

Fig. 2. Bicycle with deformed and broken front wheel.

U. Schmidt et al. / Forensic Science International 207 (2011) e12–e15 e13

A second visit paid to the scene in daylight did not reveal anyfurther evidence; in particular, there were no lock-up traces of thebrakes and no clues about another vehicle having been involved inthe event.

2.2. Bicycle

According to witnesses, the man had used his bike (a ladies’ bikewith a 21-speed derailleur system and 28 in.-wheels) for a longtime and was very familiar with the location of the incident.

The technical inspection showed that the highest (21st) gear hadbeen engaged at the time of collision. The front fork and the frametubing below the seat post were kinked backwards and twisted(Fig. 2). The front wheel was massively deformed. Its tyre and the flatinner tube had come off the broken rim. The back tyre wasundamaged; its tread did not show any signs of rubber abrasion thatwould have pointed to a full application of the brake and locking upof the rear wheel. Scratch and impact marks were found on thehandlebar and front tyre as well as minor traces of blood.

Due to the serious damage caused by the crash, the originalworking condition of the rim brakes could not be assessed.

2.3. Autopsy findings

The male body (height 190 cm, weight 85 kg) was autopsiedwith the following results:

� Excoriations on both kneecaps with epidermal shreds facingupwards towards the head with a transverse tear-like soft tissueseverance.� Small superficial excoriations on the extensor side of several

finger joints, especially on the left hand.� Two adjacent, up to 8 cm long lacerations in the parietal region

with irregularly abraded wound edges associated with numerousparallel, finely striped skin excoriations partly resemblingsuperficial furrows, mostly running in an antero-posteriordirection.� Fragmentation of the cranial and upper facial skull as well as the

skull base and local destruction of the adjacent cerebral matter(Fig. 3).� Two gaping tear wounds of the facial skin without concomitant

abrasion (forehead/root of the nose, medial angle of the left eye;cf. Fig. 3).� Compression fracture of the 5th thoracic vertebra.� Transmural, semicircular rupture of the aorta at the level of the

vertebral fracture.

� Haemothorax (1200 ml) and compression atelectasis of the leftlung.� Sparse hypostasis.� Blood alcohol concentration 0.46 per mille (46 mg per decilitre).

Perineum and testicles were unaffected. There were nocontusions of the cerebral cortex or signs of blood aspiration. Aspre-existing pathologies, general arteriosclerosis, especially in thecoronary arteries, and a status following myocardial infarction,bypass surgery and coronary stent insertion were found.

Death was caused by exsanguination due to traumatictransmural rupture of the aorta and open craniocerebral trauma.

3. Discussion

In a suicide (motor) vehicles can be used in different ways.Quite simply, they may be chosen as the place for committing thesuicidal act (e.g. taking an overdose of drugs inside a parked car [7]or fastening a hanging device [8,9]). For a long time, conductingexhaust gases into the (previously sealed) interior of a motorvehicle was a frequently applied suicide method [10–12].However, since catalytic converters have become mandatory theirnumber has dropped significantly, e.g. [13,14]. In addition, amultitude of unusual suicidal deaths in cars have been published:e.g. shots to the head [15] or intravenous application of substanceswhile the car is in motion [16], vehicle-assisted strangulation[17,18] as well as complex suicides using a car [19]. Suicide byinhalation of motor-cycle-exhaust fumes has also been reported[20]. To the best of our knowledge, no suicide by intentionallydriving a bicycle into a barrier-like obstacle has been described sofar, however.

In most cases it is difficult to prove that a traffic collision wascaused deliberately and with suicidal intention [21]. Nevertheless,this phenomenon has been known for a long time, not only in themedicolegal, but also in the psychiatric literature [22]. Suspectedsuicides have to be distinguished from genuine traffic accidentsand sudden natural deaths, e.g. [23], but also from homicides andother incidents to be covered up by simulating a traffic accident[24,25].

Especially suspicious is a seemingly inexplicable collision of acar with an oncoming or parked truck or with a solid obstaclebeside the road [1,5,9]. In addition to a suicide note or theannouncement of suicidal intentions, findings at the scene such asthe absence of skid marks or lock-up traces may give clues [1]. Thenumber of suicides in (road) traffic is probably underestimated[21], whereas railway fatalities tend to be prematurely qualified assuicides [5,26].

In the presented case, the suicide was confirmed by a hand-written suicide note. To what extent the man’s fear of dementia

[()TD$FIG]

Fig. 3. (a) Open craniocerebral trauma. The arrow indicates the site of impact in the fronto-parietal region. (b) Fragmentation of the bony skullcap.

U. Schmidt et al. / Forensic Science International 207 (2011) e12–e15e14

was justified could not be clarified. Haw et al. emphasized that therisk of suicide in dementia is increased during the diagnosticprocess and soon after diagnosis [27]. The circumstances at thescene and the results of the technical inspection of the bicycle (e.g.absence of skid marks on the road and of lock-up traces on thetyres) provided further supportive evidence of suicide. The injurypattern suggested that the cyclist had crashed into the wall of thehouse with the upper part of his body bent forward. Thisassumption was based on the localization of lacerations in thefronto-parietal region with concomitant parallel excoriations –consistent with the plaster of the wall – and the absence of facialexcoriations below the eyebrows. The compression fracture of the5th thoracic vertebra was caused by axial impaction and associatedwith aortic rupture at the same level [28]. The skin tears on theforehead and at the inner angle of the left eye had no abradedmargins and were explained as indirect lesions due to elevatedintracranial pressure and skull deformation. The blood ethanolconcentration of 0.46 per mille suggested alcohol-related disinhi-bition (so-called ‘‘courage dose’’ [29]).

4. Conclusions

Suicides in road traffic can be diagnosed only after comprehen-sive police investigations including medicolegal autopsy andtechnical assessment. The case presented here is a proven suicideof a bicyclist who intentionally crashed into the wall of a house atthe end of a hill road.

Conflict of interest

None to declare.

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank the Freiburg Traffic Police andCriminal Investigation Department, especially Bruno Bosch, JochenOffenburger, and Walter Veeser, for their support in compiling thedata.

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