Charity hopes to reduce the number of whiplash related injuries
It has been revealed that the road safety charity ‘Brake’ has had enough of hearing about ‘pain in the neck’ whiplash claims.
Research from the group exposed that drivers of new and used cars in East Anglia and the north-west of England, are the least responsible motorists when it comes to tyre safety, increasing the risk of accidents in those areas.
As a result, the organisation has launched a programme to raise awareness of whiplash injury and other head and neck safety issues.
The Move Up campaign highlights ill-fitting head restraints as a key risk factor to car accident injuries and wounds.
According to the charity, a correctly fitted head restraint can reduce the chance of suffering a whiplash injury by almost a quarter.
However in a study, 75% of drivers of new and used cars are said to be unaware of how to position their head restraints to minimise this risk.
Therefore, Brake has arranged a workshop known as the Fleet Safety Forum for December 2nd at Thatcham in Berkshire, where employers will be taken through the latest in head restraints and told about the importance of promoting the issue among staff. The Move Up campaign comes after the UK hotspots for car accidents were revealed.
Whiplash
Whiplash causes serious personal injuries and is responsible for around 1,184 claims for personal injury every day. A correctly fitted head restraint can reduce the chance of suffering a whiplash injury by 24%.
Dr Trisha Macnair, commented on whiplash injury: “Like any severe soft tissue damage, the pain and other symptoms can take several weeks to fully settle. However a few people have ongoing problem including headaches, stiffness, tingling and other sensations in the arms or legs, tiredness, poor sleep and low mood.
“This is referred to as Whiplash syndrome and is similar in nature to other conditions where pain and other symptoms develop as a result of damage to the nerves (called neuropathic pain). Treatment from a pain specialist may be needed.”
The study, conducted in August 2009 displayed that two out of three drivers never or rarely check their head restraints.
The remaining one in three drivers correctly stated that the top of a head restraint should be level with the top of your head to give your head protection and to stop your neck ‘hyper-extending’ backwards in a crash, potentially breaking it or giving you other severe injuries.
Two out of three motorists asked ,said they never or rarely check their head restraints. Only one in seven drivers claimed to always check.
When comparing those drivers who knew how to correctly position their head restraints with those who said they regularly checked, the researchers found that only one in 17 drivers (6%) knew the correct position and make conscious efforts to regularly check it.
This is exactly the same figure as when Brake carried out the same research five years ago in 2004, indicating that awareness has not improved in society at all.
Mary Williams OBE, chief executive of Brake, said: “It only takes a couple of seconds to check and adjust your restraint and those of other occupants in your vehicle.”
Updated on 11/11/2009