If you get in a car accident, often one of the first things you’re told to do is to choose an injury lawyer in Victoria. The ICBC claims process can be complicated, and, let’s face it, sometimes pretty adversarial, so it’s a good idea to get some legal advice before embarking on the process.
However, while it has become common knowledge that you need to talk to a personal injury lawyer after getting in a car accident, what is not generally known is that you really ought to get some basic medical treatment, no matter how minor the accident may have seemed.
So, we’d like to present a 3-part blog series about 1) “minor” auto collisions and 2) soft tissue injuries and 3) treatment resources in Victoria for soft tissue injuries caused by traffic accidents.
So, on to today’s topic:
How “minor” are minor traffic accidents?
You’re stopped at a light and suddenly, you feel a nudge – your car has just been lightly bumped from behind, likely by someone checking their email. You get out, determine there’s no damage to your rear bumper – it was just a nudge, right? – take the other driver’s license plate info for future reference, and go off on your way.
Sometimes a nudge is not just a nudge
However, sometimes a nudge is not just a nudge. Modern automobiles are designed to absorb the impact of a collision. Ideally, the car suffers, rather than its human occupants. However, collisions at lower speeds may not be enough to trigger the modern defensive array of shock-absorbing bumpers and panels.
So what happens instead is that the force is transferred to the drivers and passengers.
While that force may not have seemed like a lot (it certainly wasn’t enough to leave a dent on your bumper), just think about its effects on your body. For example, imagine someone unexpectedly pushed you hard from behind. It’s surprising and unpleasant, and can hurt! It’s a similar scenario inside your car – it’s as if you’ve been pushed from behind, but what complicates things is you’re sitting in a seat, which means your body is immobilized, and all of the force is transferred to your neck and then your head.
Imagine someone pushing you – hard – from behind
To make things worse, when you’re stopped at a red light, often you’re not looking straight ahead. You may be scanning your surroundings in order to identify potential dangers once the light turns green again, or trying to determine the best route through traffic.
If you get that “nudge from behind” when you’re turning our head, often, thanks to biomechanics, you can be injured in complex ways. And let’s not even think about how force can be transferred to our bodies in a more serious accident!
So often that simple nudge from behind can cause unforeseen results.
Which bring us to our next blog post: what are soft tissue injuries [link].
See you next time.
Dinning Hunter Lambert Jackson provides help finding an injury lawyer in Victoria.
DISCLAIMER: THIS MATERIAL DOES NOT CONSTITUTE LEGAL OPINION OR ADVICE AND IS GRATUITOUSLY PROVIDED FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY.