This article will explain the impact of car accident injury forces, in terms of
an equivalent fall from a building. Hang on; you will be shocked at what this means for those injured in an
accident!
Depending on the type of structure, the average building or house measures
approximately 10 to 14 feet per story. Taking an average of 12 feet results in a reasonable height
representation that most people can understand. Keep reading below to understand the energy experienced by being
involved in an automobile injury accident.
10mph accident = fall from a step ladder
20mph accident = jumping off the roof of a
single-story house
30mph accident = fall from the roof of a
two-story house
45mph accident = falling from five and a half
story office building
60mph accident = fall from the roof of a
ten-story office building
75mph accident = fall from the roof of a 15 story
building downtown
Now the REALLY scary news! If you
have a head-on collision resulting in car accident injury, both the vehicles’ speeds are added together to
arrive at the energy of the accident. See below:
25mph (car #1) + 50mph (car #2) = 75mph accident
= fall from 15 story building.
50mph (car #1) + 50mph (car #2) = 100mph accident
= jump off the Statue of Liberty.
75mph (car #1) + 75mph (car #2) = 130mph accident
= fall from a 47 story building!
Think along the lines of jumping from Devon tower in downtown Oklahoma City –
the tallest structure in Oklahoma!
For those physics buffs out there, you may have further questions. Yes, it is
true that car accident injuries may not be as simple a mathematical equation as this. Seat belts, airbags,
crumple zones, and other advanced engineering in the automobile industry have done quite a lot to reduce
accident injury risk. These relatively modern injury reduction techniques primarily involve increasing the
amount of time and area over which the accident energy is transferred to the human body. Think of this as
placing an airbag or trampoline under the building you are falling from in the examples above. However, the
larger the forces and with higher speeds, the more difficult it is for these techniques to reduce bodily
harm.
The critical thing to know is that even professional stunt performers jumping
into airbags have a professional medical staff on standby waiting to evaluate and treat them immediately.
Considering the risks, you should consider an assessment from a spine doctor for even lower speed back injury
accidents resulting in pain.
In a car accident injury, you experience shocking forces that would be expected
to cause serious bodily harm, even at relatively low speeds. When you consider the information above, it’s
incredible that car accident injuries aren’t more severe in many cases. This is a testament to auto
manufacturers’ focus on safety, federal safety laws and requirements, and the many sacrifices of crash test
dummies! Check out how safe your car is rated to be from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
At Prime Injury
Care of Oklahoma, we are Oklahoma’s most advanced back injury accident care and treatment network. We
are also proud to say, we have treated our fair share of stunt performers and extreme athletes for their back
injury accidents.
