When the cars don’t look badly damaged, the airbags didn’t deploy, or someone estimates the collision happened at only a few miles per hour, the insurance company makes a seemingly simple argument: a crash this minor could not have caused a serious neck injury.
And while many low-speed collisions don’t cause serious neck injuries, that’s not always what happens in the real world.
We hear some version of the insurance company’s argument regularly in car accident cases. We recently heard it at trial in a Bexar County case involving a collision the defense biomechanical expert placed at roughly three miles per hour of change in velocity.
Even so, our client, Ellen, ultimately underwent a C5-6 artificial disc replacement in the lower part of her neck because of the injuries she sustained in that “slow” crash. Here’s why that can happen.
Key takeaways
- Low speed does not automatically mean no injury. Crash severity is relevant, but there is no universal speed below which every occupant is medically incapable of injury.
- Vehicle damage and human injury are different questions. Repair photographs may help reconstruct a collision, but they don’t diagnose a neck or spine injury.
- The medical timeline can strengthen or weaken causation. Doctors look at what changed after the collision, when symptoms appeared, what examinations showed, and whether the imaging fits the symptoms.
- Treating physicians and biomechanical experts answer different questions. Biomechanics can address forces and occupant motion. Physicians diagnose and treat the patient in front of them.
How a low-speed crash can injure your neck
The cervical spine—the portion of your spine in your neck—contains seven vertebrae along with discs, facet joints, ligaments, muscles, the spinal cord, and nerve roots that extend into the shoulders and arms.
During a rear-end collision, the vehicle and seat can begin moving before the occupant’s head moves with them. The seatback pushes the torso forward while the head initially lags behind. Eventually, the head restraint may engage the head.
That motion can create combinations of compression, tension, shear, flexion, and extension within different areas of the cervical spine.
Research has shown that rear-impact neck motion can be complex. Several variables can influence how an individual occupant responds.
Body and head position
Someone looking straight ahead may move differently than someone whose head is turned, who is leaning forward, or who is reaching for something when the impact occurs. In Ellen’s case, she testified that her torso and head were turned slightly to the right toward her son when the garbage truck struck her stopped vehicle.
These details do not prove that a collision caused a specific injury. But they can be important when doctors and biomechanical experts evaluate how an individual person moved during a crash.
Seat and head restraint design
A properly positioned head restraint helps reduce the relative movement between the head and torso. Its height and the distance between the restraint and the back of the occupant’s head can affect how well it performs. Seat design can matter as well.
Age and individual anatomy
People are not crash test dummies built to identical specifications. Spinal anatomy, muscle tone, posture, disc condition, bone structure, and medical history vary significantly from person to person.
Those differences become particularly important when an MRI shows pre-existing degenerative changes.
What is Delta-V, and what does it tell us?
Delta-V is one of the terms insurance companies and defense experts frequently use in disputed low-speed injury cases.
The Greek letter delta means “change,” while velocity describes speed in a particular direction. Delta-V therefore describes the change in a vehicle’s velocity during a collision.
For example, imagine that a stopped vehicle is struck from behind and is pushed forward until it reaches approximately 4 mph. Its Delta-V might then be around 4 mph.
However, that doesn’t necessarily mean the striking vehicle was traveling only 4 mph itself. It could have been traveling faster or slower based on factors such as the difference in mass between the two vehicles, incline of the road, and how strongly brakes on the struck vehicle were engaged.
Accident reconstructionists may estimate Delta-V using several kinds of evidence including video, vehicle weights, crush measurements, repair information, event data recorders, telematics, and published crash testing.
Delta-V can be useful. Generally, a collision involving a very high change in velocity presents a greater risk of serious injury than one involving a very low change in velocity.
But the problem comes when a vehicle measurement is treated like a medical diagnosis. Delta-V describes what happened to the vehicle. It does not tell us everything that happened to the person inside it.
An individual injury analysis may also need to consider the occupant’s body position, head restraint geometry, age, anatomy, medical history, symptoms, examination findings, imaging, and treatment.
Vehicle damage is evidence, but it does not diagnose your neck
Insurance adjusters often begin with photographs, and for good reason. A bumper that looks mostly intact can create a powerful visual impression. An adjuster may call the collision a “tap,” “bump,” “fender bender,” or “minor impact.”
Vehicle photographs are legitimate evidence, as are repair estimates. But neither one is a medical test.
What vehicle damage can tell us
Damage can help an accident reconstructionist understand how the vehicles interacted.
Repair records may identify damaged parts and measured deformation may help an expert estimate energy transfer.
But photographs and repair bills can also be incomplete.
Some damage may be located behind a bumper cover or another component and become apparent only after the vehicle is disassembled. Repair cost can also depend on labor rates, parts prices, paint work, vehicle design, and many other factors. A relatively inexpensive repair on one vehicle may represent a very different type of impact than an equally priced repair on another.
Video, electronic vehicle data, and telematics may sometimes provide better information about vehicle motion than photographs alone.
Vehicle damage can’t tell us about the human body
A photograph can’t determine whether a cervical disc became symptomatic or a nerve root was irritated or compressed. And it can’t tell us whether an individual person developed new pain, numbness, tingling, weakness, or other neurological symptoms after the collision.
The car and the human body respond to force differently. A bumper is engineered to manage contact, while the cervical spine is a much more complex biological system. The appearance of one after a crash doesn’t automatically establish the medical condition of the other.
At the same time, minor vehicle damage doesn’t prove that a major injury occurred, either. Any credible injury claim still requires medical evidence connecting the collision to the condition being claimed.
What if your MRI shows degeneration?
This is one of the most common disputes we see in neck injury cases. After a crash, an MRI might contain terms such as:
- Degenerative disc disease
- Spondylosis
- Disc desiccation
- Osteophytes
- Disc bulging
- Foraminal narrowing
The insurance company may point to these words and argue that your neck problem must have existed before the accident. Again, that conclusion might not paint a full picture of your condition after an accident and its causes.
The medical literature shows why that argument can be incomplete. A widely cited systematic review in the American Journal of Neuroradiology examined imaging findings in 3,110 people without symptoms. Degenerative findings were common and became more prevalent with age. The authors cautioned that many degenerative findings can be part of normal aging and may be unrelated to pain.
For a particular patient, important questions following a crash include:
- Did you have neck or arm symptoms before the collision?
- Did new symptoms begin after the wreck?
- Does the pattern of pain, numbness, tingling, or weakness correspond with a particular cervical nerve?
- Does imaging show a condition capable of producing those symptoms?
- How did you respond to treatment?
A previously asymptomatic condition can become symptomatic after trauma, meaning the party liable for that trauma might still be held accountable. That is why doctors often compare the patient’s pre-crash condition with what happened afterward rather than relying solely on the word “degenerative” in an MRI report.
A Bexar County case shows why the full medical history matters
The trial where Crosley Law represented Ellen illustrates how low-speed crash cases can involve conflicting evidence.
In Ellen’s case, the defense biomechanical expert calculated a Delta-V of approximately 2.7 to 2.9 mph using one of his methods. He compared the estimated cervical load with forces associated with activities such as coughing or sneezing and concluded that the collision would not be expected to cause a structural neck injury.
The jury also heard the medical story. Before the crash, Ellen had no documented neck symptoms and was not receiving treatment for a cervical condition. After the collision, she developed neck pain along with symptoms involving her left arm and hand.
An MRI taken 10 days after the crash showed findings at C5-C6 in Ellen’s neck that physicians considered alongside her pattern of symptoms. She then spent roughly 15 months undergoing conservative treatment including chiropractic care, physical therapy, pain management, and injections. Three spine surgeons ultimately recommended surgery.
She underwent a C5-6 artificial-disc replacement and experienced substantial relief.
Perhaps most importantly, even the defense-retained spine surgeon agreed that she had significant pre-existing degeneration at C5-6 but had been asymptomatic before the wreck. He testified that the collision caused that condition to become symptomatic and started the treatment process that led to surgery.
The jury ultimately returned a verdict of approximately $1.87 million.
That verdict does not establish that every 3-mph change in velocity can cause a surgical injury, but proves why a Delta-V number or photograph shouldn’t automatically close the need to look deeper into a case.
What should you do if your neck hurts after a minor crash?
No matter how your car looks after a crash, listen to your body.
Persistent neck pain deserves medical evaluation, particularly if you also experience pain traveling into a shoulder or arm, numbness, tingling, weakness, coordination problems, or worsening symptoms.
Give your medical provider an accurate health history. Explain when symptoms began and how they have changed.
Also preserve evidence related to the crash. That can include vehicle photographs, repair records, videos, insurance communications, and prior medical records. Some evidence can disappear quickly, so speaking with a car accident attorney quickly can help you gather timely evidence such as surveillance video and vehicle data before it gets destroyed or overwritten.
RELATED:Neck pain after a crash doesn’t always mean whiplash
Frequently asked questions about low-speed crash injuries
Can a 5 mph crash cause a serious neck injury?
It can, depending on the circumstances and the individual involved. Lower-speed collisions generally present a lower risk of structural injury than high-speed crashes, but no single speed automatically determines whether a particular person was injured.
Is Delta-V the same as the other driver’s speed?
No. Delta-V represents the change in a vehicle’s velocity during the collision. The striking vehicle’s pre-impact speed may be different.
Can an insurance company deny my claim because my car had little damage?
An insurer can consider vehicle damage when evaluating your claim, but minimal damage does not by itself establish that you were not injured. Medical causation should consider your symptoms, examinations, imaging, treatment, prior medical history, and other evidence.
Does a normal-looking bumper mean the crash was minor?
Not necessarily. Photographs provide useful information, but they may not show hidden damage or fully describe vehicle motion. Other evidence such as repair records, video, measurements, and electronic data may provide additional context.
What if my MRI shows arthritis or degeneration?
Degenerative changes are common, especially with age, and can exist without causing symptoms. An important question is whether you had similar symptoms before the crash and what changed afterward.
Why would the insurance company hire a biomechanical expert?
A biomechanical expert may analyze vehicle motion, Delta-V, occupant movement, and estimated forces. That testimony can be relevant, but it should be considered alongside medical evidence about what happened to the specific person who was injured.
Crosley Law understands disputed neck injury cases
Crosley Law handles serious neck and spine injury claims throughout San Antonio, Bexar County, and Texas.
When an insurer claims a collision was “too minor” to cause your injury, we look at the full record.
That may include vehicle photographs, repair information, video, event data, prior medical records, imaging studies, treating-physician testimony, and qualified reconstruction or biomechanical analysis.
We prepare significant cases for trial from the beginning. That helps us preserve evidence, identify weaknesses early, and present a clear story about what happened to our client before and after the collision.
If you developed significant neck or arm symptoms after a Texas car accident and the insurance company is pointing to a low Delta-V or minor vehicle damage to deny or undervalue your claim, contact Crosley Law to request a free consultation. We can review the crash evidence, your medical history, and the insurer’s arguments and help you understand your options.
The content provided here is for informational purposes only and should not be construed as legal advice on any subject.
