Some New Jersey car crash injuries are preventable

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New Jersey drivers who sustain injuries in vehicle wrecks can get hurt in numerous ways. Although incidents are less likely when seatbelts are used properly and drivers take other safety precautions, some forms of preventable injury are more common than others. These include facial, cranial, neck, back and lower leg injuries, all of which may be minimized by following proper safety procedures.

Car accident injuries, like scrapes, bruises, broken bones, lacerations and dental damage, can happen when the force of a collision slams passengers into car windows or doors. In addition to using seatbelts, passengers may be able to partially protect themselves simply by covering their heads with their hands. Brain injuries, on the other hand, often involve concussions and traumatic impacts, so airbags are typically used to reduce their effects. Cranial injuries occur more commonly with passengers than with drivers.

In one assessment, seatbelts were noted for helping protect drivers and passengers from back, neck, leg, foot and knee injuries. Other tactics mentioned included sitting at a straight angle to minimize lower body injuries and ensuring that seatbelts feature proper neck restraints to reduce injuries like whiplash and spinal damage.

Car wrecks that result in serious injuries to sensitive organs, like the brain, are often harder for victims to recover from. While most people take steps to prevent themselves from sustaining harm in the first place, rear-end collisions and other accidents can take the occupants of a vehicle by surprise and reduce the efficacy of preventative methods. Depending on their severity, car accidents may result in victims having to pay high medical bills, sacrifice work hours while they recover or enact other major lifestyle adjustments just to get by.

Source: Card Direct, “Most Common Preventable Injuries that Happen in a Car Crash“, January 02, 2015