If you live in metro Atlanta (or any other city for that matter), you've likely had a close call in traffic, if not an actual motor vehicle accident. Statistics show that the average American driver has at least one car accident every ten years; in Atlanta it may be more. I've had my car struck three times in the eleven years I've lived here! The injuries I sustained in a rear-end collision just outside of Washington, D.C. in 1985 were the catalyst that caused me to be introduced to Chiropractic, and in that accident I did nearly everything wrong! I hope you can learn from my mistakes and uninformed choices. From the moment you get into a car, either as a driver or passenger, it's important to be conscious of the potential for an accident. The car you purchase can save you a lot of pain and suffering. How heavy your car is, how well it is constructed, and how well the interior of your car supports your body, are key factors. If you're in the market for a new car, please click on this link for Safety Features to Look For from Consumer Reports, and Buying a Safer Car from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. You'll get information on the latest technology that helps keep you and your family safer in your car. Antilock brakes (ABS), traction control and electronic stability control help you maintain control of your vehicle under adverse conditions. Certain modifications in safety belts help them function better to keep you and your child or adult passengers properly supported during a sudden stop or crash. Front airbags are now standard on new cars, but side air bags and side curtain airbags help prevent injuries from a side impact, and also help keep you from being ejected from a side window on impact. Give kids maximum protection! Always put them in the BACK SEAT. A child under about 12 years of age restrained in an adult seat belt runs the risk of life-threatening injuries to the mesenteric artery, a major artery that supplies blood to the intestines. Especially in a head-on crash, the seatbelt tends to ride up on a child's pelvis, which is not yet fully developed. This type of impact may pinch and rupture the mesenteric artery between the lapbelt and the spinal column, causing massive internal bleeding. Although nothing is foolproof, the "seatbelt shield," should help prevent these types of injuries. You can view this product on the vendor's website, www.safefit.com. It is available for $22.95 as item number M676 in the Herrington mail-order catalog out of Londonderry, New Hampshire at (800)622-5221. Please note that this product does not appear on the Herrington website, www.HerringtonCatalog.com, but their excellent Customer Service assures me that it is indeed still available. There are several other similar products on the market, but this design appears to provide the best protection for kids. You can reduce the potential for injury you sustain in the event of an accident if you're constantly aware of your surroundings. From the standpoint of the physics of a potential accident, you will be better protected if you take steps to minimize the uncontrolled movement of your body. That means that your car has to be able to "stand it's ground" if it is struck, and your body has to be secured in the car such that one body part maintains its relationship with other body parts, i.e., your head maintains its relationship with your trunk, your trunk with your pelvis, etc. If you see that an accident is inevitable, your actions and position in the car will in part determine what kinds of injuries you will sustain. Make sure your car moves as little as possible by putting on the brakes. The less your car moves, the less it can throw you around and injure you. Also, do not rotate your head, as to look into the rear view mirror. The direction you are looking towards if you are looking to one side tends to be the side of most severe spinal injury. So look straight ahead and brace yourself. If your muscles are tight you minimize or prevent the "whiplash" effect that does so much ligament damage. Your muscles may end up sore and bruised, but for the vast majority of cases, muscles have a much greater capacity to heal completely than ligaments do. A ligament damaged after puberty almost never reaches its pre-accident state of health. Adjust the head restraint so that it is within an inch or so from the center of the back of your head. This usually means you have to raise the head restraint and tilt it forward. Closer to your head is better than farther away. If it is too low or too far back, it may be ineffective in keeping your head from moving beyond its normal range of motion, damaging deep ligaments in your neck and spine beyond their ability to heal completely. Learn from my mistakes. When I experienced my first auto collision, I had my head restraint in the all-the-way-down position with my seatback angled too far back for the head restraint to do me any good. I saw that the accident was coming and looked into the rear-view mirror at that woman in the powder blue Datsun stationwagon until the impact, which caused injuries more serious on the right side of my neck. I tried to "scooch" forward even though I knew she could not stop before rear-ending me at 45 mph, and the forward momentum my car already had going worsened the "whiplash" effect on my neck and midback. Learn from my mistakes! After my accident I was lucky enough to find a good chiropractor who treated my injuries properly, educated me on home care and how my body works, and helped me through that ordeal. The best plan of action is always prevention, but if you find yourself in an unavoidable situation, often chiropractic care is the treatment of choice to restore proper movement in the spine and other injured areas, and to guide the healing process so as to minimize residual pain, stiffness and permanent loss of function. If you have a specific accident or injury you would like to discuss, please contact me. Factors That Minimize Injury in a Motor Vehicle Accident Being the occupant of a large, well built vehicle Having the brake on at the moment of impact Having a high head restraint Being aware of the impending collision and bracing Looking straight forward Dry road conditions Being struck by a smaller vehicle Having the seat back break during the accident, with the person seated assuming a more horizontal position Keeping the kids in the back seat, properly belted in the appropriate child seat for their size Factors That Result in Increased Injury and/or Worse Prognosis for Full Recovery Traveling in a smaller vehicle Wet or icy road conditions, icy being worse Losing consciousness or having cognitive deficits on impact Being unaware of the impending impact Being struck by a larger vehicle Having a head restraint improperly placed, i.e., having its center below the center of the head, or more than an inch away from the head Pre-existing degenerative joint disease Older age Allowing kids under 12 to ride in the front seat Not using seatbelts in automobiles equiped with airbags