Low Speed Auto Accidents
Thousands of car accidents occur everyday.
And every day thousands are injured. Researchers note that the majority
of auto accident injury claims occur at relatively low speeds of about
12 mph or less.
Car Accident Disputes
This causes tremendous
disputes between injured parties and the insurance companies that are
responsible for compensating them for their car accident claim. To
insurers, there really is no speed at which they want to admit an injury
could occur. For economic reasons they try to dismiss whiplash or car
accident injuries entirely, as if they don’t exist.
Thanks to
recent irrefutable research studies proving the existence and exact
mechanism of whiplash car injuries, insurers are hard pressed to try the
“whiplash is a hoax” defense nearly as much as in the past.
A
more recent tactic is to claim the speed of the collision is too low to
cause injury. Enter the “low speed collision” or “slow speed collision”
defense. The defense often relies on their insured’s reports of how fast
they were going when they ran into the back of the other
party-obviously biased data.
Other times photographs of the
vehicle damage is used to show a low speed car accident. Often, the
photographs are shown to an Accident Reconstructionist who by merely
looking at photographic damage of a car crash then renders an opinion on
how fast the vehicles were traveling. They will even go so far to make
statements such as “the evidence suggests there was insufficient force
to cause human bodily injury…” This would be laughable if it didn’t
cause so many problems for injured car accident victims. By the way, in
most states Auto Crash Reconstructionists are only allowed to testify or
ender an expert opinion as to vehicle damage. They are not trained to
determine bodily injury.
The Truth
Here are but a few facts concerning motor vehicle injuries and their relationship to speed with supporting scientific evidence.
Three
different studies (Panjabi, Panjabi and Cholewicki and Kaneoka) proved
the mechanism by which the neck is injured by a rear impact force
simulating a car accident. [1], [2], [3] The studies involved simulating
a rear impact collision on live human test subjects and recording the
results with cineradiography (high speed motion x-rays). The researchers
found that the neck was injured by deforming into an “S- shaped”
configuration within fractions of a second of the impact before the
occupant is aware of the impact and before reflexes can protect them.
All three of these studies found that this physical event occurred at
speeds as low as 2.5 mph. In other words, when they simulated car
crashes sufficient to cause the head to move in relationship to the body
at a rate of 2.5 mph, injuries were recorded.
The
radiographically proven human threshold for injury in a rear impact auto
accident therefore is 2.5 mph. Other authors have disputed these
figures and some insurance company sponsored studies have found the
threshold to be closer to 5 mph.
For the sake of argument, let’s
stipulate that the 5 mph threshold is correct. It still means that a
collision of only 5 mph can cause damage to the neck.
Freeman et.
al. in Spine, Vol. 23, Number 9, 1998, p. 1046 shows the damage
thresholds for many cars. This is the minimum speed required to cause
the car to show visible signs of damage. The smallest, lightest vehicle
listed was the 1980 Toyota Tercel, which required a collision of 8.1 mph
to become damaged. On the other end of the spectrum was the 1989
Chevrolet Citation, which required 12.7 mph. A Ford F-250 pick up
required 11.7 mph.
Cars built today are equipped with rear
bumpers designed not to show any damage below 5 mph. In an attempt to
reduce repair costs shouldered by insurance companies, crash standards
were adopted to mandate rear bumpers must withstand a 5 mph collision
into a fixed barrier (wall, pole, etc) without any visible evidence of
damage. It should be noted that this standard involves testing of
“vehicle to barrier” crashes not “vehicle to vehicle” testing.
Hitting
a pole as in “vehicle to barrier” testing yields more damage at lower
speeds. The barrier does not move or absorb any energy.
In
“vehicle to vehicle” crashes where the bumpers line up well, it takes
considerably more force to cause visible bumper damage than a 5 mph
collision. Some tests have shown that cars could be crashed repeatedly
at 20 mph and not show outer damage. In a “vehicle to vehicle” crash it
is estimated that the minimum speed to cause visible damage is
approximately 15 mph.
What happens to the occupant in these
collisions is what matters. If you are backing up in a parking lot and
run into a pole at 6 mph. You will feel a crunch and a bump. You’ll be
startled and upset about your bumper, but it is unlikley you’ll be
injured.
On the other hand, if you are stopped in a parking lot
waiting for a space and another vehicle strikes you at 12 mph (the
average speed of a car in a parking lot) you will likely feel a
tremendous jolt, hear a loud bang and your car will be pushed forward a
few feet. It is probable that your neck will be injured, although it may
not show up for hours or days, but your bumper may not even show a
dent.
In the first scenario all the energy of the crash was
absorbed by the bumper. In the second, some of the energy was bled off
into the two vehicles, but much of it was transmitted into your body
causing your neck to deform into the “S” configuration resulting in
injury.
Another consideration is that while a bumper may look
undamaged from the outside after a collision, inside under the skin, the
foam or plastic may be crushed or cracked. This is not seen from the
outside, so photographs would make it appear as if no damage was
sustained. Still further, the bumper may appear intact, but on unibody
vehicles, the unibody may be bent or deformed by a collision. This may
not be apparent and some auto repair facilities may miss it.
So
what does this mean? It means that if you are rear-ended and your bumper
is cracked, dented, or misplaced at all, your collision involved speeds
in excess of 15 mph. That’s 3 times the human threshold for injury if
we use the 5 mph figure. In reality, the proven threshold is only 2.5
mph, so a collision of 15 mph is 6 times the threshold for injury.
Now
let’s say your vehicle sustained no visible damage, but your neck hurts
after the collision. Does that mean you weren’t really injured? No. It
means that the vehicle’s threshold for damage was not exceeded. The
impact could have been 10 mph. Too low for bumper damage, but still 4
times the threshold for human injury.
In a low speed collision,
the kinetic forces that are transferred from the other vehicle into your
vehicle are not dampened or bled off by your bumper. Instead, the force
is transmitted through the vehicle, into your seat and to your neck
resulting in injury. If your body or neck are jolted or jerked by the
impact, an injury could occur.
Another aspect to consider is if
your vehicle is moved forward by the impact. An average car weighs close
to 4,000 lbs. Let’s say you are hit from behind and your car is pushed
forward a few feet, but shows no signs of bumper damage. Is it possible
to be hurt? Yes, of course. The force required to move a stationary
4,000 lb object is tremendous. Can you walk up to a car sitting at a red
light with its brakes on and shove it forward even an inch? Not likely.
A collision that is strong enough to propel a car forward by even
inches is plenty enough force to cause a whiplash injury.
So, as
you have now learned, there really shouldn’t be any dispute on whether a
low speed car accident collision can cause injuries. It has been
scientifically proven by several studies. It is also a fact that the
speed required to cause bodily injury is quite low, a scant 2.5 mph. It
has also been shown that any accident that causes damage to the rear
bumper is likely to cause injuries and even in accidents where there is
no outward physical damage to the vehicle, there may still be sufficient
forces involved to cause bodily injuries.
About North Dallas Chiropractic
They
are a car accident injury specialist. They specializes in back pain and
neck pain from car accidents. Their opinion is often sought by other
doctors, attorneys and insurance companies. You may contact North Dallas
Chiropracitc at (972) 392-4476 for a Car Accident Severity
consultation. North Dallas Chiropractic
References
Panjabi
MM, Grauer JN (1997): “Whiplash produces a S-shape curvature of the
neck with hyperextension at lower levels. ” Spine 22 (21): 2489-94.
Panjabi
MM, Cholewicki J, Nibu K, Grauer JN, Babat LB, Dvorak J, Bar HF
(1998-12-01): “[Biomechanics of whiplash injury].” Orthopade 1998 Dec;
27(12): 813-9.
Koji Kaneoka, Koshiro Ono, Satoshi Inami and
Koichiro Hayashi (99-04-15). “Motion analysis of cervical vertebrae
during whiplash loading.” Spine 24(8): 763-770
Characteristics of Specific Automobile Bumpers in Low Velocity Impacts, SAE 94091
No comments:
Post a Comment