Can Whiplash Neck Injuries occur with Low Speed Road Traffic Accidents

By: IanG | Posted: 09th September 2010

Whether you live in the USA or the UK, if you have personally experienced a Whiplash Neck Injury or you are friends with someone who has suffered whiplash symptoms then you will be fully upto speed with how painful a condition this can be. Once you are made aware of this fact then it helps you prepare yourself with what to expect if you are ever unfortunate enough to suffer from a whiplash neck injury. Knowing what to expect will help you treat it more quickly and so helping to reduce the pain and symptoms associated with a whiplash injury faster and more effectively.

Whiplash symptoms occur when your body and especially your head receives a sudden jolt. This makes your head move very suddenly backwards and forwards or from side to side and in doing so it makes the neck go beyond its normal range of movement. This sudden movement can be to such an extent that the ligaments (ligaments are the fibrous connective tissues that link two bones together at a joint), tendons (tendons are tough, fibrous bands that connect muscles to bone) and muscles in the neck are damaged by being overstretched.

Whiplash injuries are not confined to just road traffic accidents, they can be a rresult of a sudden blow to the head as you may receive in contact sports such as wrestling, rugby, horse riding or from strenuous physical activities such as diving. Whiplash injuries can also occur after being hit on the head by a heavy object or even an every day occurrence such as a slip, trip or fall. Babies can suffer whiplash symptoms if they are shaken violently for all it takes is for the head to be suddenly & violently jerked forwards & backwards or even from side to side.

An area of contention between the insurance companies and those claiming for whiplash injuries against them is the little know fact that whiplash injuries can be brought on by low speed road traffic accidents.

Imagine this common scenario of a car that has come to a stand still at a junction or a set of traffic lights when another vehicle runs in to them from behind! The collision is not hard one and there is little resulting damage to either vehicle, this being due mainly to the energy absorbing bumpers which have taken the bulk of the forward impact. Yet despite this the driver and/or their passengers complain of whiplash symptoms, with pain in their neck, shoulders or back. The following day the pain persists and the driver / passenger(s) visit a doctor who diagnosis that they are suffering from whiplash injuries. Naturally in this world of claims and counter claims the Insurance company, their solicitors and other experts are brought in to rebuff this finding, suggesting that the speed was to low, that the driver / passenger(s) are trying to make a fraudulent claim and they do this in order to avoid paying out any whiplash compensation. Insurance company literature suggests that 1 in 3 such cases are of a fraudulent nature but despite these findings there is a wealth of evidence that supports the fact that low speed road traffic accidents involving non-damaged vehicles can still cause whiplash injuries to its driver and passenger(s).

A lot of the time the victim plays down the effects they are suffering from, quite often they treat themselves with over the counter pain killers or anti-inflammatory, the reason often being, because the victim doesn’t want to be seen as malingering as the symptoms aren’t visible. The insurance companies state that the forces on the neck are no greater in a low impact collision than they are skipping, jumping or even sneezing. the difference being though that the above three actions are all known to the person doing them and so the muscles in the neck can tighten up and brace themselves for the impact / jolt. With a rear end bump the force on the neck is sudden, violent and unanticipated, so the neck muscles have not tightened up in anticipation of the occurrence. Also in general females have weaker neck muscles than males and then there are those who already have neck problems, these groups are therefore more vulnerable to whiplash neck injuries.

These days crash investigators can asses the forces at the time of impact with greater accuracy, they do this by looking at the consistency of the data surrounding the crash with incident data past research findings and they can now use precise computer models to aid there decision making and therefore determine the likelihood hood that a whiplash compensation claim is valid.

When it comes to a whiplash claim then our UK whiplash compensation site can help guide you to all the relevant facts and tools you will need to assess whether you are suffering from any whiplash symptoms, whether you have a claim, what to do if you have and we will allocate you an expert whiplash solicitor to take your case forward and get a result. So click this link and go now to http://www.whiplashcompensationonline.co.uk
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Tags: contention, muscles, insurance companies, connective tissues, ligaments, traffic lights, tendons, whiplash injuries, road traffic accidents, low speed, contact sports, whiplash injury