During 1987 and 1988, in Newfoundland, there were 661 motor-vehicle
accidents involving a moose; 133 people were injured and three died. This
constitutes a major problem for the provincial health-care system. In 95
per cent of the patients who were involved in fifty-five primary collisions
(the vehicle hit only the moose), the injury-severity score was less than 9
(mean and standard deviation, 3.2 +/- 4.6). There were thirty-six secondary
collisions: in eighteen, the vehicle hit other objects after avoiding the
moose (group A), and in the other eighteen, the vehicle hit the moose and
then hit other objects (group B). In group A, the mean injury-severity
score was 4.2 +/- 2.9 and in group B, it was 19.6 +/- 27.1. The three
patients who died were in group B. There were more injuries to the thorax,
thoracolumbar spine, and abdomen in group B than in the single-collision
groups (primary-collision group and group A).