Traumatic spinal cord injuries due to automobile accidents.

Of the 1,164 patients with traumatic spinal cord injury admitted to the Texas Institute for Rehabilitation and Research from February 1959 through December 1975, 389 were injured in automobile accidents. The patients with spinal cord injury were predominantly male, and the average age was in the late 20s. Two thirds of the accidents involved a single automobile and occurred less than 50 miles from the residence. The driver's seat was the most common seating position. Seat belts were not worn in over 90% of the cases; many of the other victims wore their seat belts improperly. Some of the patients were probably injured because of structural defects of the automobile.