Injuries in auto accident cases run the gamut from a simple whiplash type injury to broken bones and death. You can recover for the bodily injuries that you receive in a collision separate and apart from your property damage claim. Generally, the more severe the injury, the more you can recover. Many factors can influence the outcome of your case including preexisting conditions.
Perhaps the most difficult and misunderstood kind of case is one involving soft tissue injuries. Most soft tissue injury cases have low value because insurers do not believe that the claimant can be injured in a low impact collision with little or no damage to the vehicle. Although this has been disproved in study after study, insurers are reluctant to pay for soft tissue injury claims that exceed a certain period of time and litigation may be the only recourse. In fairness to the insurers, fraudulent claims have been made based upon a claim of soft tissue injury. A few bad apples have spoiled the barrel for those who are really injured. Below is some general information about soft tissue injuries and some links to websites with information about low impact collisions, back pain, and other general information.
- Soft Tissue Injuries (sometimes commonly referred to as whiplash)A study of whiplash done of persons involved in collision revealed the following:
- Most whiplash occupants had consulted a health care provider, but few had gone to the emergency room after the accident.
- 25% of men reported whiplash, while 44% of women did
- 40% of whiplash patients reported a restriction of their daily activities.
- 23% of the whiplash patients had symptoms for at least three months.
- The relative risk of ‘whiplash’ occurring in drivers reporting a history of neck injury was more than twice that of drivers with no history
- “Vehicle masses appeared to have an influence on the risk of ‘whiplash’ occurrence.
- The heavier the vehicle that hits you, the more likely there will be an injury (common sense)
- “There was a 9 per cent increase in the risk of ‘whiplash’ injury in drivers who were not aware of the impending collision.” These findings are also consistent with the hypotheses of whiplash experts who predict that the absence of forewarning results in increased tissue damage because of low muscle tone.
Dolinis J. Risk factors for ‘whiplash’ in drivers: a cohort study of rear-end traffic crashes. Injury 1997,28(3):l 73-1 79.
- Links to Sites with Useful Information About Low Speed Impacts
- Links To Other Useful Sites Regarding Injuries