The causes and implications of whiplash injuries
A Whiplash injury is where a person’s head moves forward and then backwards due to a sudden jerk, which can result in severe damage to the neck.
This kind of injury is most prominent in road accidents. If one has suffered from a whiplash injury, which is a result of someone else’s fault or negligence, he/she is eligible to pursue a compensation claim against the person(s) responsible for the mishap.
There are times when, due to a whiplash injury, some people even develop chronic illness which can further lead to disability or severe pain.
Imagine the financial, physical and psychological losses one has to bear in case of such injuries.
To protect the rights of citizens, the law allows them to make whiplash claims for the sufferings caused due to someone else’s negligence or fault.
Many whiplash injuries are usually caused by a vehicle accident and if that’s the case, damage to the vehicle and the cost to repair or replace the vehicle should be included in a whiplash compensation claim.
Whenever there is a whiplash injury, there are medical expenses like consultation fees, scans, tests, and medicines etc depending upon the severity of the injury sustained. Therefore, claimants may recover medical expenses from the whiplash claims.
Moreover, if the injury has prevented a claimant from working and therefore resulted in loss of earnings, such loss should also be adjusted in the compensation.
In addition to the above mentioned expenses, people claiming for a whiplash injury may also consider claim for the psychological aspect of the injury. For instance, if one suffers from a whiplash injury in a vehicle, he/she can become apprehensive about driving or even traveling on the roads.
Sometimes, such mental trauma can only be left behind if the defendant is made to pay for his fault or negligence.
Claimants often tell their solicitors that as soon as their claim is successful, they will be able to attain closure, put the mishap behind them and move on with their lives.
Ten years after the Paddington train crash, BBC News recently reported the case of a woman who survived the disaster which claimed 31 lives in October 1999. She suffered whiplash and back injuries and is now suffering from arthritis.
Since then, she is scared of traveling by train and car trips aren’t easy for her either.
"If my husband's driving the car I give him such an earache. It's almost like I'm scanning constantly making sure he's aware of everything around us."
"That bit has never left me. Where I used go on rides at theme parks, and I'd be very blasé, now my thought processes are very much around 'I wonder how often they get these checked, am I going to be okay, or am I going to irritate any injuries I had,'" she said.
The woman won a claim against the operators few years back and considers the settlement a closure and a great weight off her mind.
Updated on 14/10/2009