What Are The Most Common Car Accident Injuries People Face

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Driving on the road can result in a wide variety of different injuries and risks. You want to ensure that you do whatever you can to avoid getting hurt, or in some severe cases even death. Here are some of the more common injuries and health concerns when it comes to road accidents.

Head Injuries

Whenever you are in a car, you should absolutely be wearing a seatbelt. When you are wearing your seatbelt in a vehicle, you are protecting yourself and your body in the event of a crash or collision. Even if you are parking or not going to be driving for a significant distance, wearing a seatbelt keeps you safe even if you were to get bumped or involved in a small collision. If you are not wearing a seatbelt, you become a projectile from your car. This translates to head injuries and trauma. Your head not being secured by a seatbelt can sustain significant trauma and injury from any collision, whether that is against your windows or windshields.

Neck Injuries

Neck injuries are among the most common types of injuries you will sustain in a car accident. Because most people wear their seatbelts, this will prevent major injuries to your head and brain. However, this does leave you susceptible to significant neck injuries. Many highly renown car accident lawyers will easily identify neck injuries due to whiplash being among the most common. This will occur due to the momentum of an accident as it will propel your body while your head remains following, causing whiplash. Additionally, upon the impact reaction, when your body is held back by the seat belt, your head may still be thrown forward or sideways due to momentum as well, also resulting in whiplash.

Back Injuries

Your back is usually supported by your seat. In the midst of an accident, the support you have is not always going to be consistent and reliable in keeping you intact, especially considering the severity of the accident. Depending on what direction the other vehicle hits you from, your body may be moved, turned, or twisted, causing damage to your back or spine. It is important that when you are driving, your seat is positioned properly in order to give you the best possible support, and can give you some sort of protection from accidents that occur from the front or the back. When you consider injuries that involve the head, neck, and back, essentially anything involving the spine, you are talking about potential long term health issues that can take months and years to recover from. Even then, you may deal with pains that never truly go away.

Burns

One of the common injuries that can occur as a result from an accident involves burns. This is a risk, of course, if your vehicle was to catch fire after an accident or major collision. Keep in mind that there are many flammable liquids in a car that can easily catch on fire and quickly heat up, leading to a variety of burns. If the front of your vehicle is damaged, there are many hot liquids in your car’s engine that can spill out. They don’t have to catch on fire to burn you, as the high temperatures will be enough to cause physical damage. If your car has been on and running for a while, any liquid that were to spill into the car and onto you or any passengers would be enough to cause burns.

Hand, Wrist, Arms, And Finger Injuries

Your hands and arms are other parts of your body that will be commonly injured in a car accident. If you are driving, your hands will be on the steering wheel during an accident, and this will be vulnerable to injury that you sustain from the airbag as it inflates rapidly. The airbags are utilized to keep your head, face and body generally safe, but can cause damage to your hands, fingers and even forearms. This is why when you first learn how to drive and operate a motor vehicle, you are taught how to position your hands. This is because the airbags are kept in mind, and having your hands properly positioned means you not only have maximum control of your car, but that you are also cautious to protect your hands as much as possible in the case of an accident.

Broken Bone Injuries

This is a vague type of injury, but one thing to consider is that you can injure any bone in your body when you are involved in an accident. There are plenty of hard surfaces within your vehicle that can cause broken bones and fractures upon impact, and this has an increased likelihood when you experience a collision. Fractures and bone breaks are common in more severe accidents, as your appendages can go flying and flail about. Especially when considering your hands and fingers, as previously mentioned with things like air bags also potentially being risks to become injured.

Preventing Injuries

There are so many different ways that you can injure yourself when it comes to being in a car and any potential accidents. You cannot always take into consideration how other people will drive, but you can control your own driving. Make sure to always practice safe habits, driving defensively and safely, and removing all distractions. By focusing on safety on the road, you already decrease the chances of accidents from occuring. Additionally, always ensure that everyone in the car has their seatbelts on, and this way, if you are involved in any type of accident, you decrease the severity of potential injuries, and even death in more serious accidents.

You want to do everything in your power to avoid getting into any sort of accident. Not only are there financial concerns to worry about, but your health and safety should always be a priority. Additionally, it is important that you consider everyone involved, your passengers as well as other people on the road, and not just yourself. Drive safe, and you won’t have to worry about any of the injuries previously discussed.