If you’ve driven a car then you can likely remember a time that you had to slam on the brakes to keep from getting into an accident. This could have caused strain to the ligaments in your neck, which is better known as whiplash. According to one report, there will be a rear-end auto accident ever 17 seconds in American. That same report showed that whiplash and other neck and spinal cord injuries can happen even if you’re only driven ten miles an hour.
Whiplash is the most commonly reported injury in a car accident
According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, neck issues, including whiplash, are the most commonly reported injury after a car accident. Whiplash is more than an inconvenience. It can lead to serious consequences including:
- Extensive medical care.
- Short-term or permanent disability.
- Missing time from work.
- A decrease in productivity.
- Litigation.
If you’ve been involved in an accident and believe that you have whiplash, then we encourage you to call Law Offices of Fernando D. Vargas at 909-982-0707 for your free consultation.
There are ways you can reduce your chance of whiplash
The good news is that you can take steps to prevent or decrease your chances of whiplash. Some of the companies who study these issues have come up with great ideas to do so and they include:
- Choosing a car with a good crash rating. The better the rating, the more likely the car will have an infrastructure that won’t result in whiplash.
- Position your head restraint so that it’s right behind your head while you’re driving. This can help prevent your head from being jerked around to an unnatural position in the event of an accident. Experts say that the head restraint should align with the back of your head and should be high enough to reach up to the top of your ears.
- Wearing a seatbelt can lower the chances of whiplash.
- Careful driving. Of course you can’t prevent another car from hitting you, but you can avoid colliding with other cars.
While these above tips will help lower your chances of getting a neck or spinal cord injury, remember that there is no way to prevent it all together.
What to do if you’ve already suffered a whiplash injury
We hope that you’ll take the above tips seriously and follow them so that your chances of being injured are lower. However, if you or a loved one has already been injured in a car accident then we urge you to call Law Offices of Fernando D. Vargas at 909-982-0707. We can provide a free consultation and let you know what your options are. You may be entitled to compensation and we can help you work towards it.
