Does No Vehicle Damage Mean No Injury?

A common misconception about car accidents is that the amount of damage to the vehicle is directly related to the severity of the injury to the individuals involved in the accident. In fact, very minimal vehicle damage can lead to severe inury. For all of you math whizzes out there here is a nice formula.

a=acceleration
V=velocity
s=crush distance

a=V(squared)/2s

Crush distance is the distance in inches your car "crumples" before you come to a complete stop. Some cars have safety features that allow for a larger crush distance which allows you to come to a more gradual stop in a motor vehicle accident. In these cases the car would actually be more damaged due to this safety feature, but the occupants would likely suffer less injury due to the car being able to stop gradually instead of suddenly.

Let's take two examples to better understand the mechanics here:

A car hits a brick wall at 10 mph and the front of the car crushes 5 inches. In this case acceleration would be 78.3m/sec(squared) or 8 G's of force.

In the second example the car hits the wall at the exact same speed 10 mph, but because of a different car design the car crushes only 2 inches. In this case the acceleration is 196 m/sec(squared)and the Gs sustained by the body are 20. That's more than twice the amount of force on the body simply due to the design of the car. Additionally, since this car has less crushing on the front bumper it would actually have less damage to the car than the first example.

Have I lost you yet? It's too early on a Saturday morning for all these number I know.

The bottom line here is that you are safer in a car that has a higher crush distance because it allows your car to come to a gradual stop.

Anyone involved in even the most minor traffic collision should be evaluated by a professional who understands your specific needs. Injuries following these accidents may not show up for weeks or even months and by then some of the damage sustained may be permanent. Take the time to give your body what it needs following an accident to prevent long-term problems and disability.







Source:Robbins MC. Lack of relationship between vehicle damage and occupant injury. SAE 970494