Deceleration may lead to serious brain injuries

by | Aug 16, 2021 | Motor vehicle accidents

If you end up being hit by another driver, one of the injuries that you could be at risk of is a brain injury. Brain injuries can develop quickly if you hit your head or if the impact is fast enough that your body whips one way or another. You can get whiplash by moving forward and back or side-to-side quickly. You could also develop a brain injury if your skull spins one way or the other rapidly since the brain cannot move to keep up with that rotation.

In a car crash, especially when the crash is a high-speed collision, it’s possible for the driver and passengers to have brain injuries. Those injuries may not be apparent right away. In fact, many brain injuries start out as nothing more than a minor headache or slight disorientation. People may ignore that after a collision, but they shouldn’t. Over time, the swelling and additional bleeding could lead to pressure on the brain that causes significant symptoms and brain damage.

Deceleration injuries are dangerous to the brain

Deceleration injuries are injuries suffered when your vehicle suddenly stops or when your direction is changed abruptly before coming to a sudden stop. For example, if your vehicle is traveling forward and is T-boned by another, it will decelerate quickly and move in a new direction. If you are hit from the front, your vehicle may come to a sudden, rapid stop.

These movements make it more likely for your head to whip in one direction or another. There is also a chance that you could hit your head on the dashboard or steering wheel, that you may hit your head on the window or that you could be struck by debris within or coming from outside your vehicle.

Inside your skull, the brain has little control over where it moves. If your head moves forward and back quickly, it may hit multiple areas inside the skull before settling back into its typical position. People who have been involved in collisions may have symptoms that seem unusual, but this is because so many areas of the brain may have been injured.

Over time, these injuries can worsen. If you’re involved in a crash, go to the hospital to seek care. Then, you can look into your personal injury claim options.

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