LOW IMPACT COLLISIONS ARE ONLY LOW IMPACT TO THE CAR!

Did you know you can be injured in a collision even at speeds of 10 mph or less? Think about it. Cars weigh between 2,000 and 3,000 pounds. A collision at 10 mph will produce an impact force of anywhere from 3.7 tons to 5.6 tons. That’s a lot of force! Because of advances in the construction of motor vehicles, today’s cars can take the force of a low speed (below 10 mph) collision without incurring much damage. But, unfortunately, when you’re in a car accident, not all that force is absorbed by your car. You and others with you must absorb the rest! And you probably won’t fair as well as your car.

Soft tissue injuries — or injuries to the ligaments, tendons, and/or muscles—are the most common problem for those involved in a low impact accident. These include contusions, bruises, strains, and sprains. Briefly, a contusion is a blunt force injury, and a bruise is formed by the pooling of blood around the injury. A sprain is a ligament injury often caused by a wrench or twist. A strain occurs when a muscle or tendon is overused or stretched. Sprains and strains may be minor or result in partial to complete tears in the ligaments, tendons, and/or muscles. It’s important to know that a sprain or strain in the back or neck (whiplash), which may occur in low impact collisions, can have long term and even permanent effects!

Obviously, blunt force impact, stretching, and twisting of any number of body parts can easily happen in a low speed collision. But because low speed accidents often cause minimal to no damage to automobiles, their impact on occupants in the car may be overlooked. If you’ve been in a low impact collision, don’t be fooled into concluding those aches and pains you may be experiencing are minor just because the accident was minor. Get them checked out immediately. Come to Accident and Injury where all we do is take care of accident victims. We take your low impact collision injuries — and your treatment — very seriously.