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Shaw Chiropractic
A Medical-Legal Newsletter for Personal Injury Attorneys
by Dr. Steven W. Shaw

"But It Was Only a Little Accident"

The situation is familiar to anyone who has dealt with personal injury case: The victim shrugs off any suggestion that he or she may have sustained physical damage worth receiving treatment because-- in the client's words--"it was just a little accident." Perhaps the insurance carrier, judge, or jury in the case reacts with skepticism when you suggest that your client is really injured despite the magnitude of impact and property damage.

Somehow, people have come to believe that a "minor" accident can't possibly result in physical injury. It is as though they feel that, in the case of an automobile accident, if the impact wasn't strong enough to crush at least a fender or two, it couldn't damage an occupant.

That truth of the matter is that physical damage can be caused with relatively minor impact. A sudden jarring or twisting can cause severe injury The results of this may become apparent immediately--pain, stiffness, loss of mobility --or can remain unnoticed for months. Many cases have been documented concerning people who present severe physical problems the cause of which is traced back to an accident suffered years earlier. Too often, these victims did not received proper chiropractic care or health care because, in their minds, the accidents were so minor they weren't worth bothering about.

In fact, when it comes to injuries such as this, there's no such thing as a "minor" Accident. According to the U.S. Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, "The Truth is that all driving can be dangerous. More than 80% of all car crashes occur at speeds less 10 mph. Fatalities involving non-belted occupants of cars have been recorded at as low as 12mph. That's about the speed you'd be driving in a parking lot." (Seat belt safety pamphlet #DTHS 802 152).

Experience affirms that automobile accident insurance company claim adjusters, automobile accident insurance company defense attorneys, and defense medical/chiropractic examiners maintain that an individual with in a vehicle involved in collision cannot be injured if the vehicle sustains only minimum structural damage. Yet there is no doubt that individuals involved in minimal structural damage collisions develop symptomatology consistent with whiplash type neck distortion soft tissue injuries. Practicing health care providers who examine these patients document findings that are consistent with occult soft tissue trauma (alterations of segmental motion, alterations of joint end play, altered regional posture, alteration of normal tissue textures, abnormal sensitivity to local pressure, etc.). With adamant claims by patients that their symptoms are genuine and by doctors that their findings are real arise the cynical perspective that the patient’s prime objective is secondary gain and that of the doctors' greed.

There is abundant research to support the fact that low impact injuries not only have the potential to cause physical damage but often time may cause physical damage far in excess to the damage to the car.

When one understands the Law of Conservation of Linear Momentum and takes into consideration the principles of elastic versus plastic collisions it is easy to understand why there is actually an inverse relationship between deformity of the struck vehicle and bodily damage to the occupant. Of course, there are speeds at which both vehicular damage and bodily damage are both good indicators of one another.

Many factors need to be considered when evaluating the accident and trauma. Most important are the direction of impact, state of preparedness and head position at time of impact. Additional considerations include: road conditions, seat belt use, foot position, head restraints, pre-existing physical conditions, the mass of the striking and struck car, relative velocity before and after impact, type of vehicle, position in the vehicle, etc

The doctors of Shaw Chiropractic have prepared a slide presentation covering much of the data you and your staff will need to fully represent the interests of your clients. The information presented will provide you with tools which will enable you to communicate with claims adjustors, attorneys and jurors who may not be fully aware of the potential consequences of low impact vehicular trauma. The presentation can take anywhere from 45 minutes to 2 hours depending on your needs and the available time. My staff physicians and I are available to speak at your office or ours. I have presented this lecture to groups ranging from one to fifty participants so no group is too large or small. There is no fee for our time so feel free to contact us to schedule the presentation for your office or group.