Fatal Blunt Neck Trauma Associated with Driver Airbag Deployment: A Forensic Case Report with Narrative Literature Review

Abstract Frontal airbags substantially reduce mortality in motor vehicle collisions, yet uncommon severe or fatal injuries still occur. Fatal neck trauma directly attributable to airbag deployment remains rare and forensically important, particularly when the injury pattern correlates with airbag morphology and in-vehicle trace evidence. A 39-year-old male driver was involved in a single-vehicle crash with deployment of the driver’s airbag. Scene documentation noted blood spatter on the driver-side window and blood staining on the deployed airbag, which contained two circular perforations. External examination demonstrated a semicircular laceration on the left anterior neck (approximately 3 cm × 3.5 cm) with abraded/contused margins and exposure of underlying tissues, corresponding to a semicircular defect in the left collar region of the thobe. Autopsy revealed extensive soft tissue disruption and hemorrhage within the neck, including injury to major cervical vessels (left carotid intimal disruption and left jugular venous tear), laceration of the left thyroid lobe, and injury to the left side of the trachea, accompanied by fractures of the left transverse processes of C5–C7. Additional findings included bilateral upper-lobe pulmonary contusions (with right upper-lobe laceration described) and right hepatic contusion. Toxicology detected amphetamine in multiple specimens at low concentrations (not within a lethal range as interpreted in the report) and nicotine in plant material recovered from the oral cavity. This case demonstrates a fatal blunt neck injury pattern temporally and morphologically consistent with driver airbag interaction. It highlights the need for meticulous scene correlation (airbag morphology, blood staining, interior traces) and comprehensive cervical dissection at autopsy to document vascular and aerodigestive tract injuries.