Irish scientist Mary Ward died when she fell out of her cousins steam car and was run over by it.The British road engineer J. J. Leeming, compared the statistics for fatality rates in Great Britain, for transport-related incidents both before and after the introduction of the motor vehicle, for journeys, including those once by water that now are undertaken by motor vehicle: For the period 1863–1870 there were: 470 fatalities per million of population (76 on railways, 143 on roads, 251 on water); for the period 1891–1900 the corresponding figures were: 348 (63, 107, 178); for the period 1931–1938: 403 (22, 311, 70) and for the year 1963: 325 (10, 278, 37). Leeming concluded that the data showed that "travel accidents may even have been more frequent a century ago than they are now, at least for men". He also compared the circumstances around road deaths as reported in various American states before the widespread introduction of 55 mph (89 km/h) speed limits and drunk-driving laws. They took into account thirty factors which it was thought might affect the death rate. Among these were included the annual consumption of wine, of spirits and of malt beverages—taken individually—the amount spent on road maintenance, the minimum temperature, certain of the legal measures such as the amount spent on police, the number of police per 100,000 inhabitants, the follow-up programme on dangerous drivers, the quality of driver testing, and so on. The thirty factors were finally reduced to six by eliminating those found to have small or negligible effect.
Renal cortical necrosis (RCN) is a rare cause of acute kidney failure. The condition is "usually caused by significantly diminished arterial perfusion of the kidneys due to spasms of the feeding arteries, microvascular injury, or disseminated intravascular coagulation" and is the pathological progression of acute tubular necrosis. It is frequently associated with obstetric catastrophes such as abruptio placentae and septic shock, and is three times more common in developing nations versus industrialized nations (2% versus 6% in causes of acute kidney failure). Causes
Adults
Pregnancy related (>50% of cases)
Placental abruption
Infected abortion
Prolonged intrauterine fetal death
Severe eclampsia
HIV
Snake bites
Binge drinking
Shock
Trauma
Sickle cell disease
Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE)
Sepsis
SLE-associated antiphospholipid syndrome
Vitamin deficiency
Pancreatitis
Malaria
Meningococcemia
Drug-induced toxicity (e.g. NSAIDs, Contrast Media, Quinine, or ATRA)

Babies
Congenital heart disease
Fetal-maternal transfusion
Dehydration
Perinatal asphyxia
Anemia
Placental hemorrhage
Severe hemolytic disease
Sepsis

Pathophysiology
The exact pathologic mechanism for RCN is unclear, however the onset of small vessel pathology is likely an important aspect in the cause of this condition. In general the renal cortex is under greater oxygen tension and more prone to ischemic injury, especially at the level of the proximal collecting tubule, leading to its preferential damage in a sudden drop in perfusion. Rapidly corrected acute renal ischemia leads to acute tubular necrosis, from which complete recovery is possible, while more prolonged ischemia may lead to RCN. Pathologically, the cortex of the kidney is grossly atrophied with relative preservation of the gross structure of the medulla. The damage is usually bilateral owing to its underlying systemic causes, and is most frequently associated with pregnancy (>50% of cases).