Car accidents are an unfortunate reality of modern life. Equally unfortunate is the fact that so many people become injured from those accidents. The NHTSA estimates that almost 2.5 million people suffered car accident injuries in 2021 alone.
Of course, injury is a pretty broad term. After all, if you have a bruise after a low-speed accident, you have technically suffered an injury. Of course, many of the people injured in a car accident suffer much worse than a bruise.
If you’re wondering what the most common accident injuries are, keep reading for a breakdown. First, though, it may prove helpful to take a quick look at the types and causes of car accidents.
Types of Car Accidents
When people think of the term car accident, they are often put in mind of head-on collisions. Those certainly do happen and are memorable. Yet, there are several other kinds of common car accidents that you should know about, including:
- Rear-end collisions
- Hit-and-run accidents
- Rollovers
- T-bone accidents
- Sideswipe accidents
- Multi-vehicle accidents
Depending on the speeds of the vehicles, all of these types of car accidents can leave drivers and passengers injured.
Causes of Auto Accidents
There are also several common causes of auto accidents as well. Let’s look at each.
Distracted Driving
One of the biggest causes of car accidents is basic distracted driving. It’s something almost every driver is guilty of at some point or another.
Some common sources of distraction include:
- Texting while driving
- Taking phone calls
- Changing a control
- Passengers
- Rubbernecking
Sadly, the occasional bit of distracted driving is unavoidable.
Driving Under the Influence
Another major contributor to car accidents nationwide is driving under the influence. This can mean driving after drinking or driving after taking drugs.
Drugs and alcohol can change things like your reaction time, risk assessment, and even visual perception. Any of those things can potentially cause an accident.
Speeding
Another common cause of accidents is speeding. This is another thing most drivers do, often on a regular basis.
In areas where speed control is lax, drivers may have to speed to stay in the flow of traffic. Unfortunately, not everyone has the reflexes to drive safely at high speeds.
Reckless Driving
While most drivers don’t engage in reckless driving, reckless drivers are at extremely high risk of causing an accident. Reckless driving can mean anything from tailgating to weaving in and out of traffic. In essence, it means that driver handles their car in a way that endangers other drivers.
Running Lights and Signs
A lot of accidents happen at intersections. It’s routinely caused by someone running a red light or a stop sign. Of course, running the light or sign might happen because of distraction, speeding, or reckless driving.
With some of the more common causes addressed, let’s dig into the common injuries you see after an accident.
Soft Tissue Damage
One of the most common types of injuries you see after an accident is soft tissue injuries. These injuries affect things like muscles, ligaments, skin, and tendons.
Bruises are very normal soft tissue injuries following an accident, as people get jostled around. They’re likely to bump various parts of themselves up against things inside the car.
Another common injury you see is a whiplash injury, which primarily affects muscles and tendons in and around your neck. Other common injuries include scrapes and cuts. Watch out for symptoms like pain and swelling.
Head Trauma
All too often, a car accident will cause head trauma to one or more people in the car. There is a good chance that you will bang your head against something in the car during an accident, such as a window. Fortunately, the widespread installation of airbags has cut way down on people banging their heads on the steering wheel.
If you’re lucky, you’ll walk away with a headache and some bruising. If you’re not lucky, you can end up with a closed head injury.
For example, you may get a concussion. These can cause dizziness, nausea, and headaches. They may also mess with your balance and concentration.
The good news is that most concussions are temporary.
Car accidents can cause more serious head injuries, such as permanent traumatic brain injuries and permanent brain damage. Watch out for warning signs like behavior changes, bleeding, and passing out.
Internal Injuries
One of the more insidious types of car accident injuries is internal injuries. These are generally injuries to your internal organs, rather than more obvious soft tissue injuries.
First responders often cannot tell by examining you that you have internal injuries. After all, there’s no easy way to spot internal bleeding. This is why anyone in a car accident gets encouragement to go to the hospital.
A hospital will have doctors who are trained to identify signs of internal injuries. They also have access to imaging equipment that can help them find and identify internal injuries.
Some symptoms of internal injuries include:
- Abdominal pain
- Fainting
- Swelling
- Headaches
- Seizures
As a general rule, if you have strange symptoms after a car accident, go see a doctor. It’s better to be overcautious and wrong than to be seriously injured.
Back Injuries
The human back is an extraordinary thing. It’s also very easy for it to get injured in a car accident. There are many possible back injuries that you can suffer in an accident, ranging from relatively minor to very severe.
On the relatively minor side are sprains and strains. These primarily affect the soft tissues around the spine. Although painful, they generally will heal up over time.
On the more serious side are injuries like herniated discs, ruptured discs, and pinched nerves. These injuries often require surgery to correct.
In some very severe cases, you can suffer damage to the spinal cord itself. This can leave you paralyzed with no real treatment available.
Chest Injuries
After an accident, chest injuries are also exceedingly common. While seatbelts can save lives, they also put a great deal of pressure on your chest during an accident. In cases where a car lacks an airbag or an airbag fails, the chest can strike the steering wheel.
The kinds of chest injuries you can suffer vary wildly, often depending on the type and severity of the accident. On the less severe end, you might suffer bruises or contusions.
On the more severe end, you might face:
- Broken ribs
- Internal bleeding
- Collapsed lung
- Organ damage
Again, the severity of your injuries may not be apparent at the scene. Watch out for symptoms such as shortness of breath, coughing blood, and low blood pressure.
Broken Bones
Unfortunately, broken bones are all too common after a car accident. You can strike parts of the car or get struck by flying objects during the accident.
If the impact is serious enough, pressure on your body from damaged car parts may can also break bones. There are several types of possible bone breaks you may face, such as:
- Stress fractures
- Closed fractures
- Open fractures
- Partial fractures
You may also end up with displaced and non-displaced fractures. It might seem like broken bones would be obvious at the time. Yet, stress, partial and non-displaced fractures may well go unnoticed and undocumented.
Keep an eye out for common symptoms like intense pain, trouble moving or putting pressure on a bone, and swelling.
Leg and Arm Injuries
Arm and leg injuries happen frequently during car accidents because they are some of the most mobile parts of your body. For example, let’s say you have a head-on collision.
The seatbelt will keep your torso fairly stationary. The momentum from the abrupt stop will try to drive your unsecured arms and legs forward.
The good news is that soft tissue damage is the most likely injury for your arms and legs in a crash. In more severe crashes, though, broken bones or even lost limbs are a possibility.
Nerve Damage
It’s very easy to forget that, much like veins and arteries, there are nerves throughout the entire body. After all, it’s those nerves that send pain signals to the brain. Of course, it’s also nerves that provide human beings with sensory information, like sight or smell.
Injuries to any part of the body can potentially cause nerve damage. For example, serious cuts can potentially sever major nerves in your arms or legs. Back or neck injuries can damage the nerves in the spinal cord.
Symptoms
Because nerves handle so much information, nerve damage can express itself in a lot of ways. Some of the more common symptoms include:
- Problems with speech
- Loss of strength
- Unusual tingling in hands or feet
- Loss of a sense
- Pain
Of course, spinal or neck damage can also result in varying levels of paralysis. That kind of nerve damage is generally identified on the scene.
Psychological Injuries
Not all of the injuries that people suffer during and after an accident are physical injuries. Accidents can also cause a number of psychological injuries as well.
PTSD
One of the more recognizable psychological injuries is post-traumatic stress disorder, better known as PTSD. It can happen following any kind of distressing event, including car crashes. PTSD can cause a number of symptoms, such as:
- Flashbacks
- Nightmares
- Phobias
- Anxieties
PTSD may also trigger related emotional issues, such as depression.
Survivor’s Guilt
Of course, PTSD isn’t the only possible outcome. For someone in a car crash where someone else dies, there is the possibility of survivor’s guilt. There are a range of survivor’s guilt symptoms, such as:
- Feelings of helplessness
- Obsessive thoughts
- Sleep disruption
- Loss of appetite
- Racing heart
Survivor’s guilt can appear by itself or in combination with PTSD.
If you experience any serious or ongoing emotional challenges after an accident, consult with a psychiatrist or psychologist.
Scars
While not discussed as often as an injury, scars or other kinds of disfigurement often are a kind of injury. After all, a part of how you function in the world is determined by your relationships with friends, family, and colleagues. Serious scarring or disfigurement can dramatically alter those relationships.
For example, facial scars can make performing your job difficult or even impossible, depending on your profession. They can also make getting jobs in the future much more problematic.
In the case of scarring, plastic surgery can often help remove scarring or reduce the severity of scars. Yet, some scarring remains beyond repair.
Serious scarring or disfigurement can also damage a person’s sense of self and self-worth.
Preventing Accidents
You cannot prevent the possibility of an accident. Given that, there are a number of ways that will let you reduce the odds that you’ll get into an accident.
Practice defensive driving techniques. For example, make sure you always follow at a safe distance and don’t depend on other drivers to act in safe ways. Always pay attention to your mirrors and the traffic in front of you.
Always gear your driving so it’s appropriate for the road conditions. For example, slow down on very wet or icy roads. If the conditions reduce visibility too much, find a place to safely pull off the road and wait it out.
Granted, you can do all of that and still get into an accident. If you suffered an injury in an accident caused by someone else, you should at least consult with an attorney. You can head over here to get more information.
Car Accident Injuries and You
The sheer number of car accident injuries you can suffer makes it difficult to keep them all in mind. You can damage soft tissue, break bones, or suffer head trauma. You may even face nerve damage, scarring, or psychological injuries after a car accident.
While you can’t eliminate a car accident as a possibility, you can limit the chances. Drive defensively and gear your driving to the weather conditions.
Looking for more about injuries or health in general? Check out our Lifestyle & Health section for more posts.
