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A 50-year-old male was hit by a high-speed golf ball on the left lateral side of his neck. He collapsed immediately and was sent to hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The autopsy showed an extensive basal subarachnoid haemorrhage. Careful gross and histological examinations disclosed a rupture of the right vertebral artery at a site very close to the bifurcation. It was estimated that the impact of the golf ball on the left side of his neck resulted in the rupture of the contralateral vertebral artery, owing to its hyperextension. Although there are many reports on traumatic basal subarachnoid haemorrhage, the present type of trauma seems rare to our knowledge.

A 59-year-old male was driving a car on the road and was involved in a traffic accident, colliding with a tanker and a big lorry. When an ambulance arrived at the scene, he was in a state of cardiopulmonary arrest and was bleeding profusely from his right nostril. He was confirmed dead at hospital. The autopsy showed a laceration of the right upper lip extending to the right nostril. In the basal skull there was a notable perforation at the ethmoid bone together with the central part of the sphenoid bone including the sella turcica. In accordance with the basal skull bone fractures, there were pronounced contusion injuries at the brain stem and a contusion injury was also observed in the right part of the cerebellum. After careful investigation of a causative stick-like item that was present inside the car, it was concluded that a severe movement of the man's body, as a result of the traffic collision, caused the gear stick which was fixed to the steering wheel to become impaled in the man's right nostril. The gear stick passed through the nasal cavity and into the basal skull bones, resulting in fatal brain stem injuries.

We report a rare case of the death of a stunt man who jumped into the sea driving a motorcycle on location for a TV drama. A special ramp had been constructed for the jump. The stunt man and a passenger drove up the ramp at a speed of 60–70 km/h and jumped into the sea from a height of about five metres. Both men swam up, but the driver fell unconscious at the surface. He was sent to hospital, but did not recover. The autopsy revealed a deep laceration of the right axilla with complete rupture of the axillary artery, bone fractures of the right ribs and the right pelvis, and a small laceration of the upper lobe of the right lung. Other visceral organs were not injured. We finally judged that his cause of death was exsanguination due to rupture of the right axillary artery on the basis of the presence of a small amount of blood inside the heart and ischemic organs. All injuries were probably inflicted by a collision with the motorcycle upon reaching the water surface; the axillary injury might be due to the left handlebar piercing into the part.