subject: Can You Get Whiplash From A Scooter Injury? [print this page] Whiplash is a very common injury, usually arising from being involved in a vehicle accident, and is often associated with a car accident where one vehicle hits another vehicle in the rear causing injuries to one or more of the passengers. However, what happens if you are the driver of a scooter? Can you still sustain a whiplash injury when involved in an accident on a scooter and, if so, how does this happen?
A whiplash injury is caused when the neck is suddenly and forcefully thrown back and forth causing soft-tissue damage to the muscles and ligaments in the neck. This often leads to symptoms which include pain and discomfort in the neck and lower back, bruising and swelling and restricted movement in the neck. The symptoms of whiplash will vary in severity as will the length of time it takes the victim to recover. Whiplash symptoms are often not apparent until a couple of days after the accident and some people make a full recovery within a week whereas others may still suffer the symptoms of whiplash - and often associated complications - a few years after the accident.
Having an understanding of how a whiplash injury is caused makes it clearer to see that the driver of a scooter can easily become the victim of a whiplash injury if they are unlucky enough to be involved in a collision. If the scooter is struck from behind - for example, when sitting in a stationary queue of traffic - or if the driver of the scooter accidently collides with the vehicle in front, these motions can be enough to throw the head of the scooter driver suddenly and forcefully back and forth causing a whiplash injury.
It is quite clear that scooter drivers are at risk of more serious injury when involved in a road traffic accident as they do not have the 'buffer' of a car or van to help protect their body from injury. It is therefore vitally important that to avoid sustaining injuries such as whiplash the driver of the scooter must, at all times, drive with caution and be aware not only of what the vehicles in front are doing but also what is happening behind. As with all road users, it is important for the scooter driver to keep a safe distance from the vehicle in front so that he has enough time to brake safely and without risk of collision.
Although whiplash is a common injury in road traffic accidents, the amount of occurrences of whiplash in drivers of both cars and scooters could be significantly reduced if drivers were to constantly drive with the upmost of caution and awareness to avoid a collision from taking place.
Copyright (c) 2010 Nicholas Jervis
by: Nicholas Jervis
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