This paper outlines first some of the information available on the numbers of accidental deaths and injuries from all sources. Problems of definition are important, but road accidents are identified as the largest single class of event causing trauma by impact. The relative proportions of the major groups of injured road users are outlined for a selection of countries, and then, for pedestrians, motorcyclists and car occupants, a general description of their injuries according to the damaged segments of the body are given. Studies from many different parts of the world provide fairly consistent descriptions of these injuries.

Reference is made to trauma caused by other and new transport modes, and it is suggested that in the future, because of an expected growth in mechanical trauma due to increases in the numbers of road accidents, more attention should be paid to describing the aetiology of injuries in general and traffic trauma in particular.