While suicide is recognised as one of the leading causes of death in Australia, it is often presumed that fatal road crashes are primarily accidental in nature. However, international research has indicated that deliberate attempts at self-harm while driving may account for between 1.1% and 7.4% of road crashes. Despite the personal and financial costs associated with such events, few studies have examined the extent of motor vehicle suicides (MVS) or the circumstances surrounding such incidents in Australia. Given this, the current study reviewed coronial, police and toxicology findings of 762 motor vehicle fatalities in Queensland (Australia) during the period 2011 to 2015 to determine the frequency of confirmed cases and explore the prevalence (and characteristics) of possible MVS that remain undetected. In total, 22 confirmed cases were identified, and such events shared significant similarities with 14 possible events, including evidence of recent emotional upset, adversity and mental health diagnoses. In contrast, differences between the groups were limited to confirmed cases being more likely to involve males and contain a suicide note or evidence of past suicidality, while possible cases were more likely to involve a multiple vehicle impact with a truck. Importantly, crucial information regarding the deceased’s psychological state and life circumstances (e.g., psychological autopsy) was not reported in many cases. Corresponding qualitative analysis of the coroners final determination (between the two groups) revealed the occurrence of the word suicide to occur seven times (31.8%) among confirmed cases and five times (35.7%) for possible casers. Furthermore, the coroners final determination of intent to suicide was open or undetermined in six of the possible cases (43%), which further suggests a reluctance (or procedural uncertainty) to categorically identify MVS. The paper further reviews the main findings, illuminates core challenges associated with identifying MVS and proposes a need for future investigations to incorporate a more standardised and evidence-based approach in order to effectively identify such events.

虽然自杀被认为是澳大利亚的主要死因之一，但人们通常认为致命的道路交通事故主要是意外事故。然而，国际研究表明，开车时故意自残可能占道路交通事故的 1.1% 至 7.4%。尽管与此类事件相关的个人和财务成本，但很少有研究调查澳大利亚机动车自杀 (MVS) 的程度或此类事件的相关情况。鉴于此，目前的研究回顾了 2011 年至 2015 年期间昆士兰（澳大利亚）762 起机动车死亡事件的死因、警方和毒理学结果，以确定确诊病例的频率，并探讨仍未发现的可能 MVS 的患病率（和特征） . 总共，确定了 22 个确诊病例，这些事件与 14 个可能的事件有显着相似之处，包括最近情绪不安、逆境和心理健康诊断的证据。相比之下，两组之间的差异仅限于确诊病例更有可能涉及男性并包含遗书或过去自杀的证据，而可能的病例更有可能涉及多辆汽车与卡车相撞。重要的是，在许多情况下，关于死者心理状态和生活环境（例如，心理尸检）的关键信息没有被报告。对验尸官最终裁决（两组之间）的相应定性分析显示，在确诊病例中，自杀一词出现了 7 次（31.8%），在可能病例中出现了 5 次（35.7%）。此外，在六种可能的情况下（43%），验尸官对自杀意图的最终确定是开放的或未确定的，这进一步表明不愿（或程序上的不确定性）明确确定 MVS。该论文进一步回顾了主要发现，阐明了与识别 MVS 相关的核心挑战，并建议未来的调查需要采用更加标准化和基于证据的方法，以便有效识别此类事件。