Rear-End Collisions and Resulting Back and Neck Injuries
According to the Insurance Information Institute, approximately 6.4 million car crashes occurred in 2017 alone, which resulted in roughly 1.9 million injuries. Although these statistics cover a number of different kinds of car accidents ranging from head-on collisions to sideswipe crashes, a large proportion of the collisions involved at least one vehicle rear ending another. In fact, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates that rear-end collisions account for nearly one-third of all traffic accidents in the U.S.
Unfortunately, even minor rear-end crashes can lead to serious injuries, primarily affecting the back and neck, which can leave motorists to struggle with mounting medical debt and chronic pain for years to come. To ensure that you have the best chance of recovering compensation for your own accident, please contact a dedicated Florida car accident attorney who can advise and assist you.
How Common are Rear-End Accident Injuries?
According to the NHTSA’s most recent data, of the 2.4 million rear-end crashes that took place in 2016, nearly 700,000 resulted in injury. These injuries ranged in severity and type, but the most common involved damage to the back and neck. This is largely due to the fact that it is primarily these parts of the body that sustain impact during a rear-end collision. The facet joints that connect each vertebrae to a person’s spine, in particular, often become compressed in these types of accidents, resulting in pain, limited movement, and nerve damage.
Types of Neck and Back Injuries
Like any type of injury sustained in a car crash, no two back and neck injuries will be exactly alike. There are, however, a few types of neck and back-related injuries that tend to occur more than others in rear-end collisions, including:
- Whiplash, which involves damage to the soft tissue in the neck and upper back caused by the sudden movement of the head and neck upon impact;
- Spinal fractures, which are more likely to occur in high speed collisions and often involve compression and stress fractures, where the vertebrae are pushed out of place and compress the nerves in the spinal cord;
- Herniated discs, which occur when the strength of an impact causes the discs that provide cushion between the vertebrae to shift out of place; and
- Spinal cord injuries, which can result in partial, total, temporary, or permanent paralysis.
Generally, the severity of an accident-related injury depends on the age and health of the injured party, as well as the speed at which the collision occurred, the type and number of vehicles involved in the accident, and whether the vehicle’s airbags deployed properly.
Delayed Symptoms
It is not uncommon for motorists who sustain back or neck injuries in rear-end collisions to suffer from delayed symptoms, which can lead them to initially believe that they escaped their crash without injury. For this reason, car accident victims are strongly encouraged to seek medical treatment as soon as possible after their crash, which can ensure that there is a strong medical record linking a plaintiff’s collision with a specific injury.
Contact Our Car Accident Legal Team After a Rear-End Collision
When someone else’s careless decisions lead to a rear-end collision, you deserve fair compensation for your losses. Please call 954-566-9919 today to speak with the dedicated Fort Lauderdale auto accident attorneys at Boone & Davis about your case.
Resource:
iii.org/fact-statistic/facts-statistics-highway-safety
https://www.booneanddavislaw.com/liability-for-out-of-state-car-accidents/
