Whiplash Claims Advice - How To Avoid A Whiplash Injury

As the number of whiplash claims in the UK continues to rise, with hundreds of thousands of people claiming the compensation they need to deal with lost earnings, reduced mobility or therapy required for the pain, it's worth looking at what can be done to try to either prevent whiplash from occurring, or at least reduce its severity.

No one wants to have to make a claim for whiplash compensation, but the many whiplash solicitors working in the UK at the moment are here to help those who, often through no fault of their own, have been involved in an accident which has resulted in whiplash. The symptoms vary from mild discomfort which may be gone in a few days to long term or even permanent pain, discomfort, reduced mobility, loss of feeling, depression and headaches.

Even minor whiplash injuries can require off work which can result in loss of earnings, but for more serious cases where the symptoms persist for many weeks or months the compensation awarded in the quarter of a million successful whiplash claims in the UK each year does help to get people through.

So what can be done, if anything, to help protect people before the accident occurs? Is there really anything you can do which will help to either prevent the accident from occurring or at the very least reduce the damage done to the soft tissues in your neck so that any symptoms you do experience will be greater reduced in severity?

In fact there are several things you can do to help protect both you and your passengers, and whilst nothing can protect you completely from the lack of attention offered by other drivers, there are some things you can do which will really help make a difference. The first thing to think about is how whiplash actually occurs. People tend to know it involves the head bouncing around a lot, but what is really going on? Understanding this can go a long way towards helping you take the steps needed to protect your neck in the event of an accident.

Whiplash is caused by the sudden compression and then extension of the soft tissue in your neck. This is easier to understand if you think about the most common cause of a whiplash injury, the rear end shunt. If you're sitting in traffic and someone coming up behind you fails to notice that you are stationery then they may well collide into the back of your vehicle. As they hit your vehicle your head is thrown backwards. This compresses the tissues in your neck very suddenly.

A split second later your head rebounds off your headrest and is thrown forwards, possibly into the air bag if it has inflated. This sudden movement of the head forwards stretches or extends the tissues in your neck, usually resulting in whiplash. So the first thing to think about is adjusting the head rest to reduce both the distance your head travels backwards, and the amount it is likely to be bounced forwards.

By positioning the headrest correctly so that there is minimal distance between the back of your head and the head rest, should a vehicle hit the back of your car your head may only have an inch or so to travel before hitting the head rest. This significantly reduces the compression factor, and at the same time reduces the momentum of the head so that it will not be thrown forwards as much. Often people fail to adjust headrests correctly, but doing so could well help you avoid becoming just another one of the whiplash claims in the UK this year.

About the Author

For information on whiplash claims UK visit CK Claims Ltd, whiplash solicitors based in Manchester who will be able to offer help, advice and support in getting you the compensation you need.