Whiplash injury reduction
While it is incorrect to say that whiplash injuries are not caused to those who are wearing a seat belt, it is undeniable that using a seat belt helps to reduce the degree of those injuries. They protect a person in the sense that, used correctly they will prevent an individual from being thrown out of a car in the event of a collision, however they won’t prevent whiplash injuries occurring. In some instances, if the seat belt isn’t in the proper position, its presence can even increase the volume of injuries sustained, so just belting up isn’t sufficient, the seat belt has to be in the correct position for any particular driver or passenger.
The British Osteopathic Association (BOA) has warned drivers of the injury risk if they fail to wear their seat belt correctly. The BOA says that although wearing a seat belt is acknowledged as saving lives and is now second nature to most people, what’s not so widely recognised is just how a car occupant sits in a vehicle and the way that may affect their safety and well-being.
The organisation was publicising Back Care Awareness Week and released details showing that a minimum of one in 10 drivers sit too far back in their seat for the seat belt to provide them suitable protection in the event of an accident. Research shows that whenever sitting in a car the seat belt ought to be positioned across the bones on the pelvis and on the shoulder to stand the best chance of avoiding serious injury.
People that don’t take this advice and, for example, sit further back, run the risk of suffering a submarine, which occurs when an individual is sitting too far back in their seat and effectively slips underneath the belt in the event the car is involved in a collision, which can lead to the person receiving serious injuries.
The BOA also claim that half of all drivers in the UK either sit too far back in their seat or don’t have their head close enough to the head restraint, which happens to be another potential problem, as that runs the risk of the person suffering severe whiplash injuries if there is a collision.
Head restraints work effectively only if they are at the right height for that particular person, and so if a collision occurs it will in effect catch the head and support it, lessening the danger of any soft tissue injury. Therefore, to give a car occupant the best possible chance of escaping from the crash safely, their head restraint must be as near to the back of the head as possible and also at the right height, while their seat belt should be across the hips and pelvis and the shoulder belt over the chest and collarbone.
The BOA research comes as the Association of British Insurers (ABI) demands action to make sure that only genuine claimants receive fair compensation. It says that around 1,200 whiplash claims are being made each day and it also costs the NHS around 8m annually to deal with those affected by such injuries. Three quarters of personal injury claims in the UK are for whiplash injuries, a far higher percentage than anywhere else in Europe. The ABI says it doubts that the UK has the weakest necks on the continent!
Contact us today for further details on making a whiplash injury claim. We can recommend just what treatments may be available and our whiplash solicitor service can inform how much your whiplash claim is usually worth.