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Injuries Associated With Rear End Collisions February 9, 2018

The thought of being rear ended by another motor vehicle may not seem as frightening as the vision of a car that is speeding towards you. Indeed, rear end collisions usually happen at a slower speed than a head-on collision or even an accidental occurrence that involves some sort of side impact. Still, such accidents can cause the type of bodily harm that remains unnoticed until many weeks or months after the initial assessment of the accident’s damage.

Situations in which drivers get placed at risk for an impact from the rear

Obviously, not every driver that stops at a red light needs to worry about being hit by the vehicle approaching in the driver’s rear view mirror. Yet, there is always the chance that the same approaching driver could be someone that is careless and neglectful. An act of negligence, such as drinking and driving can cause a rear end collision.

A driver that comes to a halt at a stop sign is in much the same position as one that has stopped at a red light. There are two other situations that share many of the characteristics linked to the act of stopping at a red light or a stop sign. One of those takes place on highways. It concerns the necessity to stop at a toll booth.

The other situation can arise any place where vehicles that have been moving quite fast have to slow down. If those same vehicles get onto an off-ramp and then meet up with a back-up of traffic, the drivers might be forced to put on their brakes. If any driver fails to react in a sufficient amount of time, the front of that driver’s vehicle could collide with the rear end of the stopped vehicle in front of the same driver.

Slow-healing injuries that might be caused by a rear end collision

If the impact has affected the spinal cord of the driver or of any passengers, then any of those same victims might develop a herniated disc. In such a victim the impact has weakened the disc, allowing its inner core to leak through a tear in the disc’s outer wall. The victim’s recurring pain gives true meaning to the term “pain and suffering.” You might want to consider discussing the case with the injury lawyer in St. Albert.

Some victims develop what physicians refer to as an anterior cruciate injury to the knee. A ligament in their knee has been stretched or torn. It must be treated by using a bracing device, by relying on physical therapy or by turning to surgery. The victim that has suffered a tear to the rotator cuff in the shoulder blade has a true example of a ‘slow-to-heal’ injury. It can exhibit signs of re-injury after it seems completely healed. Sometimes the slightest movement, such as placing a light load on the arm can do away with whatever healing has taken place up to that point in time.