In the United States, there are almost one million people every year that report some kind of injury related to whiplash in an accident. As a result, over thirty billion dollars is spent each year on damages for whiplash in a car accident. Most whiplash injuries aren’t serious, but sometimes even low speed crashes can result in serious injuries is the conditions are right.
For most car crashes that involve whiplash, the person is only moving for about one-tenth of a second. No problem right? Wrong. When you get hit by another car, the seat moves with the car because it’s attached to the car. However, the bodies of the people in the car want to stay in the same spot, but are forced to move by the back of the seat they are resting against. This is fine for your body, because it can rest against the seat, but your head also wants to remain at rest and it does so until the last possible second, when it is flung backwards. If your car doesn’t have a headrest or they’re not properly adjusted, your head ends up flying all the way backwards just in time for your body to move forwards, snapping it in both directions. This movement mimics the end of a whip, which moves much faster than the person who moves the whip, and is how whiplash gets its name.
Whiplash has numerous effects on the body. These include muscle damage and soreness, soft tissue damage, and even ruptured or displaced disks in your back. The symptoms of whiplash may not even show up for a few days after your accident, so make sure that you visit the hospital right after an accident if you think you have sustained any injuries as a result of whiplash.
For more information on how you can recover money from your whiplash injuries, visit the Auto Accident Settlement Center.
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