Vehicle-Assisted Ligature Strangulation (VALS) is an uncommon form of suicide that can be quite messy.
Techique:
(1) The person ties one end of a rope or the like around a fixed object.
(2) The person gets into a car and straps himself or herself in.
(3) The other end of the rope is tied around the neck.
(4) The person then drives away.
Variables include how fast the person drives away and how the person makes sure that the car keeps going (for example, going down a hill in neutral).
Cause of death:
(1) strangulation
(2) cervical fracture
(3) compression of neck structures
(4) decapitation
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Specialty: Clinical Laboratory, Psychiatry, Emergency Medicine
