Each day the morning news in Baton Rouge includes traffic reports highlighting commuter crashes and traffic jams. While we hope to avoid these traffic snarls on our way to work, the fact is that motor vehicle accidents are an everyday occurrence, especially rear-end collisions that lead to spinal cord injuries, including whiplash.
What is whiplash?
Whiplash is a typical spinal cord injury that you could suffer in a car crash, specifically rear-end collisions. When your vehicle is struck from behind, the force of the impact rapidly jolts your neck back and forth. This injures the tissues in your neck.
Symptoms of whiplash do not always manifest themselves right away. You might not notice you are injured until days later when you experience symptoms such as:
- Pain and stiffness in your neck, upper back or shoulders
- Limited mobility in your neck
- Headaches where your skull meets your neck
- Dizziness
- Fatigue
- Tinnitus
- Brain fog
You may experience other symptoms not listed here. Whiplash can take weeks or even months to recover from and may require extensive therapy.
Preventing rear-end crashes
All motorists in Baton Rouge must work to prevent rear-end crashes. This can help lower the number of spinal cord injuries suffered.
One main thing we can do to avoid causing a rear-end crash is to follow a safe distance from the vehicle in front of us. This is especially true at night or during bad weather when visibility is limited and roads may slippery.
We also must avoid road rage. If you are frustrated with a driver in front of you it can be tempting to tailgate. The better option is to keep your emotions in check and execute driving maneuvers that do not put others in danger.
Rear-end collisions are a common cause of whiplash and other spinal cord injuries. We can all work together to help reduce the number of motor vehicle accidents in Baton Rouge, which in turn can lower the number of spinal cord injuries.