Journal of Forensic Biomechanics

Abstract

The Influence of Age, Shoe Type and Kicking Direction on the Severity of Head Trauma

Penzkofer R, Barnsteiner K and Dendorfer S

In the last few years, increasingly kicks to the head were observed as a criminal offense. This study examined the influence of age, shoe type and kicking direction on the severity of head trauma.

Male test persons were divided into two groups “Old” and “Young”. Both groups were equipped with light sneakers and combat boots. A standard laboratory crash dummy was used to simulate the victim’s body. First, the dummy’s head, free floating above the ground, was kicked vertically. Second, the dummy’s head was kicked horizontally. Established injury criteria were used to quantify the injury risk.

No influence concerning the type of foot wear and no difference between the groups “Old” and “Young” could be found. For all analyses, kicking vertically generally lead to a higher risk for the subject compared to kicking horizontally.

In this study, only the integral effect of the kicks could be analyzed. A detailed injury pattern cannot directly be derived from the data. Nevertheless, the presented data show the massive potential of injuries associated with head kicks.