Whiplash a Frequent Result of Columbia Missouri Auto Accidents

Residents of Columbia, Jefferson City, Ashland, Fulton and other Missouri cities are all familiar with hearing about whiplash after a car accident. According to Columbia Missouri car accident lawyer Aaron Sachs, the cost of medical expenses, disability payments, lost wages and litigation to collect damages from auto injuries including whiplash is estimated to cost up to $30 billion a year. Columbia car accident attorneys have seen this particular personal injury all to many times, and they know how real and how debilitating it can be for car crash victims.

Rear end collisions are the usual culprit in whiplash injuries. Whiplash studies have used crash test dummies made to carefully emulate the spinal and physical structure of the human body. These studies show that during this type of rear impact car accident, the lower bones in the neck are forced into hyper-extension while the upper bones in the neck are forced into hyper-flexion. Even without knowing much about anatomy, Columbia personal injury lawyers know that has got to hurt.

Not just a means for people to claim they are injured--to receive money from insurance companies, whiplash is a serious personal injury--causing possible damage to the intervertebral joints, discs, ligaments, muscles, and nerve roots in the neck. There can be damage to both the bone structures and soft tissues.

If you have been in a Columbia car accident, you need to be aware that symptoms of whiplash may take 24 hours or more after the initial crash to appear. If you have been in a car crash, but don't immediately feel any pain, don't assume you have not been injured. The American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons reports that approximately 20% of those involved in Colombia rear end collisions wind up with neck pain that may develop into whiplash, according to a study done by the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons.