Car Collision Injuries

Common Car Collision Injuries

Every day, many of us drive to and from work, to the grocery store, or to a friend or relative’s house and hardly think twice about not making it there because of a traffic incident like a crash. Studies conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, or NHTSA, showed that there were over 2.7 million individuals who had injuries as a result of car collisions in 2019. Each car collision will cause different injuries based on the individual’s situation and how the crash occurred.

Common Car Collision Injuries

Causes

While some car accident injuries can go away in a short period of time without the need for medical treatment, other injuries that need immediate medical attention can result in a level of permanent physical disabilities. The seriousness of injuries to passengers and drivers depends on multiple factors:

  • Whether the individuals were wearing a seat belt.
  • The area of collision to the vehicle, whether it was a front, side, or rear-end collision.
  • If the induvial was sitting up straight in the seat or if they were seated in a different position.
  • The speed of the cars before the collision.
  • Whether or not the airbags deployed in the car.

We can identify two broad categories that car collisions are classified into. The first category, impact injuries, are injuries that occur to an individual when their body part hits the interior of a car. For example, legs hitting the dashboard. The second category, penetrating injuries, is when a person gets cut and/or scrapes from loose objects in the car and glass that has shattered from the windows. Common car crash injuries can be seen below:

Soft Tissue Injury

This type of injury occurs when damage is caused to an individual’s connective tissues in the body. These connective tissues are the ligaments, tendons, and muscles. One of the most common soft tissue injuries is commonly known as whiplash. Whiplash is the result of damage to the upper back and neck due to the impact of a collision whipping the body with a strong force.

Lacerations / Cuts in Car Collisions

Most people have loose objects in their cars such as glasses, keys, and coffee mugs. However, even car airbags can cause cuts and/or scrapes. During a car collision, the force of the impact will cause any of the loose items to fly around the interior of the vehicle. When these items hit an individual in the car, they can cause cuts and scrapes to the skin. Although these are mostly minor injuries and won’t require medical treatment, depending on the object, there can be more serious cuts that require stitches.

Head Injuries in Car Collisions

Head injuries as a result of a car crash can be minor or severe. The impact of a car collision can cause a person’s head to jolt in a certain direction that is sudden or unnatural. This may cause muscle strains in the individual’s back and neck, causing their head to be bruised when there is an impact with an interior feature of the car. These injuries can cause concussions and even long-term brain damage depending on the severity of the impact.

Chest Injuries in Car Collisions

Other common injuries in a car collision are things such as a bruised chest, broken ribs, and internal bleeding. These injuries can result from seatbelts, as well as chest impact to the dashboard or steering wheel. A chest injury resulting from a car collision can leave an individual out of breath from being winded by the impact. Individuals that are winded from impact will struggle to breathe for a short period of time after the collision.

Upper and Lower Limb Injuries

Similar to the unnatural movements with head injuries, this can happen to an individual’s arms and legs when being forced into the car door or the dashboard. Depending on the level of impact, car crashes can cause bruises, cuts, and even broken bones.

Be Aware

Not all injuries are identifiable straight after the collision. In fact, some injuries may only arise over a certain length of time. Therefore, it is important to keep an eye out for any symptoms over a couple of months to be safe. It is critical you receive medical treatment as soon as you are experiencing any pain and/or discomfort after a car collision.

Helpful reading: Motor Vehicle Injuries – National Safety Council (NSC)

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