Seven year old suffers whiplash
A seven year old boy was left with whiplash injuries and injuries sustained from his seatbelt after a four car pile up in South Yorkshire last night.
The boy was taken to Doncaster Royal Infirmary along with two others involved in the accident, a 53 year old man and a 36 year old woman.
It is thought that the crash was caused by debris which was scattered across the road after the roof of a caravan trailer blew off the top of the caravan.
The debris was strewn across all three lanes and caused a number of following vehicles to brake, which in turn caused other cars to smash into the back of them.
The three main cars involved were a Toyota Yaris, a Vauxhall Corsa and a Fiat Punto. They all collided into the back of each other when the leading car hit the towing car in front.
Luckily no one was seriously hurt in the incident, the most severe injury appears to have been the whiplash which the young boy suffered.
It is rather unusual for such young children to suffer whiplash during a crash like this as they are usually travelling in the back and have their head well supported by the seat behind them.
Also, children's necks are generally less tense than adults, making them less susceptible to whiplash injury, although more at risk from more serious injuries.
Following the accident, the motorway was closed for over an hour while the mess was cleaned up. The damaged vehicles had to be removed as did the extensive debris which was strewn for miles.
Updated on 6/30/2008