There's an old saying that goes along the lines of "If there's no damage to the car, then there's no injury." However, that isn't necessarily true, and for many reasons, it is very important to be thoroughly evaluated even if your symptoms are minimal.
There are plenty of variables that affect how a person comes through a crash as to type of injuries sustained. Things like the vehicle itself including its construction, its design, how fast it was travelling, how it hit another car or object, friction, the position of the injured party, their weight, how they were sitting, and so on. Many different variables there, plus a whole deal more.
Newton stated in his Third Law of Motion that "for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction." This applies to any auto accident regardless of speed. Consider a pool ball hitting another ball head on. The cue ball's momentum is transferred to the other ball, and it moves off in the same direction.
However, there is a big difference between the pool balls example and a car accident because the construction of the entities is vastly different. Pool balls do not compress or break like a car does on impact. Thus, if pool balls did, the rate of energy transferred would be absorbed in the contraction of the materials like cars, and the other ball would not move away so quickly.
A test on car bumpers was made at speeds of 2.5 mph to ensure that no damage should occur to cars at this speed. Despite this, the transfer of energy occurs rapidly and even in situations where little to no damage on the cars occurs, the excess energy is still transferred to the occupants of the vehicle. Thus, the occupants would still have a certain risk to injury.
In fact, in the United States, vehicle bumpers are tested at 2.5 mph with impact equipment of similar mass with the test vehicle’s brakes disengaged and the transmission in neutral. National Highway Transportation Highway Safety Administration (NHTSA) vehicle safety standards demand that no damage should occur to the car in this scenario.
So it should be noted that even at low, low speeds, the body can still be injured, even if no effects are felt. This is why it is important to be seen by a doctor or your chiropractor as soon as possible.
Should you need to file a claim against the offending party and this becomes a legal issue, a proper evaluation is essential to document any injuries sustained in the accident.
At Northwest Health Solutions, we have over 30 years of personal injury experience. If you have had an accident, it would be our pleasure to serve you.