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When it comes to injuries resulting from traffic accidents, a full 65% consist of whiplash and 20,000 people in Sweden suffer from it every year. The most common cause is being driven into from behind, causing the head to be powerfully flung back and then forwards. A whiplash injury can be very painful and can, in worst case scenarios, become chronic. However, you can minimize your risk of being affected. Exactly what has happened in the neck after a whiplash injury is not fully understood. A traffic accident at 6-8 km/hour is believed to be the limit for whiplash injuries. Even at such low speeds, the cervical spine increases in weight by about a factor of 4.5. At higher speeds, the force can be much greater. Of the 20,000 whiplash injuries that are reported, most people recover in a few months. However, for every ten people who receive the injury, one will suffer longstanding pain which can, in worst case scenarios, become chronic. Reduce the risk of whiplash injury It is possible to reduce the risk of suffering from whiplash by ensuring that your vehicle is safe. Between 2002 and 2006, the Whiplash Commission, financed by If, Folksam, Länsförsäkring Alliance and Trygg-Hansa, worked to see how whiplash injuries could be reduced. They came to the conclusion that four out of ten whiplash injuries could have been avoided simply by having better protection in the car seat. Factors that are important and which can be affected in all vehicles are how the headrest and car seat are positioned. The Swedish National Road Administration provides the following four tips: * The headrest should be positioned so that the entire head is given support. * Ideally, the headrest should reach the top of the head. * One should sit near the head- and backrest. * If one has time to see in the rear-view mirror that the vehicle approaching from behind will not be able to stop in time, one should press one’s head against the headrest. But one should not turn one’s head. A common misunderstanding is that the neck support should be positioned at the height of one’s neck. This is wrong, as the middle of the neck support should be level with the middle of the back of one's head. Taking away, or positioning the neck support further down, greatly increases the risk of injury. Airbags protect against whiplash injuries An airbag provides very good protection against cranial injuries during head-on collisions and can mean the difference between life and death. They have also been shown to reduce the risk of whiplash injuries. Airbags reduce the risk of serious injury so greatly that one should try to ensure that one’s vehicle has them. Correct car seat protection Several vehicle models have car seats with specific protection against whiplash injuries. Crash tests conducted by Folksam and the Swedish National Road Administration show that these can provide good protection. An efficient whiplash protector was able to reduce whiplash violence by up to 40%. The tests did, however, show that not all car seats with specific whiplash "protectors" worked very well. Therefore, when one is looking to purchase a vehicle it is worthwhile to look at the report and find out how well the protector functions in the vehicle you are considering. Drive carefully The biggest risk of accidents resulting in whiplash injuries comes from traffic jams and gridlock. Furthermore, most accidents happen during rush hour, with the vehicle that is hit either being at rest or moving at low speed. The risk of these kinds of accidents is reduced if one maintains a significant distance from the vehicle in front.
Article Source: http://www.new.citynewslive.com
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