Rear End Collision

REAR END COLLISION

What is a rear end collision?

A rear end collision is a traffic accident wherein a vehicle crashes into the vehicle
in front of it. Common factors that contribute to rear end collision include by driver
inattention or distraction, tailgating, panic stops, and reduced traction due to weather or
worn pavement. It may be also be a rail accident wherein a train runs into the rear of a
preceding train.

Typical scenarios for rear-ends are a sudden deceleration by the first car so that
the following car does not have the time to break and collides with the first. Alternatively
the following car may accelerate more rapidly than the leading resulting in a collision.

Cause of Rear End Collisions

1. SPEED
- If you are going too fast, then you may not have complete control over
your car. You will also take longer to brake because the more quickly an
object is moving, the more difficult it is to slow its momentum and come
to a complete stop. For both of you. It is important to realize that if there is
snow or ice on the ground, it is also going to take longer to stop – so you
should adjust driving speed accordingly.
2. TAILGATING
- It is when you drive closely behind another vehicle. Failing to keep a safe
distance between the driver’s car and the car in front of it.
3. INATTENTION
- A driver who is talking on a cell phone, putting on makeup, brushing his
hair, texting, talking to passenger, reaching for items or otherwise failing
to pay attention may crash into the car in front of him if he fails to notice
that the car has slowed or stopped.
4. DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCE
- Driving while impaired by alcohol or drugs can lead to rear end collisions.
5. UNSAFE LANE CHANGES
- Abrupt lane changes and cutting off other vehicles on the road are
aggressive driving behaviors that may cause a rear end collision.
6. WEATHER CONDITIONS
- Rain, snow, ice, fog and dust can make the roadway slippery and can limit
visibility.
7. ROAD CONDITIONS
- Snowy and icy roadways can contribute to rear end collisions.
8. DEFECTIVE VEHICLES/BRAKES
- Cars with defective brakes or tires without sufficient tread can cause a
vehicle to slide into a rear ender.

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The Most Common Injuries Caused By a Rear End Collision

These are the most common injuries that are caused by a rear end collision:

 Neck injuries. When your car is hit from the rear, your neck snaps back and then
forward. When this movement extends and flexes your neck beyond its usual
range of motion, you can sustain a hyperextension/hyper flexion injury, which is
sometimes called whiplash. These neck injuries vary in severity. Some whiplash
injuries can be permanent and disabling.
 Back injuries. Sprains, strains and herniated discs in the mid-back and the low
back can also result from rear enders.
 Face and head injuries. Your face and head may strike the steering wheel or the
windshield in a rear end collision, possibly resulting in bruises, lacerations or
even closed-head injuries such as concussions or even more serious brain injuries.
It is possible to sustain a closed-head injury (brain injury) without striking the
interior of your car.
 Wrist, hand and shoulder injuries. These can occur when your hands and arms
are jammed into your steering wheel by the impact.
 Ankle and foot injuries. Your ankles and feet can be injured when they are
jammed into the brake pedal by the impact.
 Leg and knee injuries. These can occur when your leg or knee strikes the interior
of your car, usually the dashboard.
 Seatbelt injuries. When your seatbelt and shoulder harness engage, they can
cause bruising or, possibly, internal injuries.
 Airbag injuries. Your airbag may deploy if your rear end collision forces you
into a car in front of you. The contents of the airbags sometimes cause burns.

Factors That Affect Whether You Are Injured In A Rear End Collision

Whether a driver or passenger is injured, and if so, how seriously they are injured,
may be affected by these factors:

 Where they are seated in the vehicle. In a rear end collision, passengers in the
rear of vans are more vulnerable than those seated closer to the front of the
vehicle.
 Proper positioning of headrests. Proper headrest positioning can prevent neck
injuries. On the other hand, if the headrest is too low, it can act as a fulcrum and
make neck injuries even worse.
 Use of seatbelts and airbags. While they cause comparatively minor injuries,
seatbelts and airbags have been demonstrated to save lives and prevent more
serious injuries.
 Awareness of the impending crash. If the driver and the passengers know they
are going to be hit, they can brace themselves and this can prevent injuries or
lessen their severity.

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How Do Rear End Collision Occur?

As with most types of car accidents, these collisions happen when you least
expect them. Many different factors can contribute to getting to rear ended. The roadways
might be slippery, it might be dark and difficult to see because of fog, or it could be a
case of negligence on the part of the other driver. He or she may be asleep at the wheel,
drunk or on drugs, talking on phone or texting, or any number of other possibilities. Even
small car accidents can cause quite a bit of damage to your vehicle, and they can cause
aches, pains, and more severe medical problems.

Factors That Affect a Rear End Accident

If you have been injured in a rear end accident, at some point you will want to
consider how much you would be willing to accept to settle your claim. Resolving your
claim through a voluntary settlement agreement may be beneficial to you because it saves
you the time and the cost of taking the case to court. But determining a fair value for
which to settle your rear end accident can be difficult, and the answer depends on a
variety of factors.

Factors That Affect a Rear End Accident Settlement

There are many factors that can affect the value of your settlement for a rear end
accident. No two cases are alike, but here are some common factors to consider:

Special Damages. Special damages (or economic losses) are damages for which money
is comparable substitute for what was lost. This is also known as the out-of-pocket loss
rule. Special damages can include lost wages, lost earning capacity, medical expenses,
funeral and burial expenses, and property damage. As the amount of special damages
increases, so too should the amount of settlement.

General Damages. General damages (or non-economic losses) are losses for which
money is only a rough substitute. General damages include physical pain and suffering,
humiliation and embarrassment, shock and mental anguish, loss of reputation, loss of
consortium, and loss of society and companionship. Typically, generally damages equal
1.5 to 5 time’s special damages, depending upon the severity of the injury and the level of
fault on the part of the person who caused the injury. Again, the more the permanent and
severe the general damages, the greater the settlement.

Chassis construction against rear end collision

What is the most important safety on your future car?

It`s not the air bags. It`s not the ABS brakes. It`s the car frame.

In modern cars and other vehicles, the frame is the highly engineered crash-
absorption component that can help to protect you and your family in a collision by
dispersing impact forces predictably. Every year, hundreds and thousands of used
vehicles with hidden frame damages to that very component are bought and sold, usually
for two reasons:

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1. Typical visual frame inspection procedures for new or pre owned vehicles used by
even the most reputable car dealers can actually fail to detect hidden auto frame damage
from common collision.

2. Unscrupulous individuals are “passing off” a salvage car that has been totaled and
refurbished, but not repaired correctly or to vehicle safely specification.

How Frame React Collisions

Safety engineering has made incredible leaps in the past few decades of
automotive design. Frame structure and manufacturing has played a significant role of
these automotive advances.

Just the highly technical design of the windy race car keeps its drive alive in an
otherwise horrendous crash the design and integrity of the frame dictates how a passenger
car or truck “behaves” in collision. Crumple zones precisely engineered to absorb impact
and protect you and your family. Air bag deployment is also affected the frame design.

For every vehicle, the manufacturer has developed the ideal behavior
characteristics of the frame seen in automobile crash test. Auto frame damage can
compromise your vehicle safety even a minor rear-end collision, by changing your car
alignment, crumple zones of air bag deployment.

Impact damage

When your car is in collision, its frame can become damage in two ways. First,
the accident can result in direct damage to the frame, which appears at the location of
impact. For instance, as you might expect in a rear-end collision, the rear most sections of
your vehicle frame may be damage.

Figure 7.1: Crumple Zone

Indirect damage from collision is not always obvious.

But, just importantly, the very same accident can result in what is called indirect
damage to the frame and body, which appears away from the area of the impact. Think of
the indirect damage as the accident “ripple effect” through your vehicle.

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Since much of this ripple effect damage happens far from this point of the
collision impact, the vehicle that to the naked eye appears to be fully repaired fully can
still have a significantly compromised frame structure that can endangered vehicle
occupants in future accident.

The surest way to assess the condition frames indirect damage is to have the
frame inspected at an authorized Auto Scan Inspection Center or local body shop that
uses computerized laser system.

The Ripple Effect

The Ripple Effect, in the sense is the shock wave that transfers through the
structure of your vehicle much like that seen from large explosions. This ripple effect can
changes the precise location of body mounts of full frame vehicle and chassis connection
on all vehicles. Some vehicles that repaired and cleared to drive after rear end collisions
will likely exhibit light tweaking to the frame that can trough of wheel alignments and the
center of the gravity.Air bag deployments sensor are located on the frame points
throughout the vehicle. If the frame isn’t working properly restored and even shows even
slightest amount of misalignment, air bags may not deployed in the event of another
accident. Even the slightest bit of damage from the collision can put yourself and
passenger in danger, so it is a good idea to have your vehicle frame and structure
inspected and repaired by a shop that uses specialized laser measuring equipment.

Effects in Body

In the rear collision, you will find the driver that causes the accident will probably
sustain less injury than the other driver. First of all the driver causing the accident will
likely apply the brake before impact, which already has their body in a forward motion as
their vehicle leans under heavy braking. If you unlucky enough to be unsuspecting driver
at the intersection upon collision, your head and body instantaneously begin the travel
forward instead of backward, creating the whip slash effect.

Effects on Car

Even during a light impact rear end collision the damage to your vehicle can be
devastating. Your car may able to repaired, but this repaired can sometimes bring down
the safety of the vehicle. Every car manufacturer design the frame of your vehicle,
whether it be full frame or unibody, to absorb impact and crumble of the certain areas.
Auto repair has come a long way in restoring bend of misalign frames but once a frame
has been change it will never be strong as it was. A rear end collision is felt through the
entire vehicle through the entire vehicle can cause structural damage in other parts of the
vehicle that maybe over looked or missed upon safety inspections.

AVOIDING REAR END COLLISIONS

1. Make sure your brake lights are functioning properly.

2. Use your rearview mirrors to avoid being rear ended.

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3. be aware of aggressive drivers.

4. Leave plenty of space between your vehicle and those in front and behind you.

Types of Collisions

a. Head-on collisions

b. Hit from behind

c. Hitting the driver in front

d. Side collisions

Avoiding Collisions with the vehicle behind

a. Slow down gradually

b. Touch the brake pedal

c. Use turn signals

The “Mystery” of Object Collisions

Why the Mystery?

1. Vehicle Condition

-Regular Tune Ups

-Oil Changes

-Fluid Levels

-Brakes

-Tire Treads and pressure

-Lights, signals and wipers

2. Fatigue

3. Drugs / Alcohol (Don`t Drink or take Drugs and Drive)

4. Keep Cool in Traffic

- Keep your emotions on check

- Take Steps to stay relaxed no matter what

- Allow enough time to get there

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Active and passive safety

The Terms “active” and “passive” are simple but important terms in the world of
automotive safety. “Active Safety” is used to refer technology assisting in the prevention
of crash and “passive safety” to components of the vehicle (primarily airbags, seatbelts
and physical structure of the vehicle) to help to protect occupants during a crash.

Passive Safety: Case rear and collision

At the time rear end collision, the chassis effectively absorbs the impacts to
minimize the deformation of the passenger cabin. At the same time, the WIL (whiplash
injury lessening) concept seat lessens injury from whip slash of the passenger.

Body structure

The chassis is designed to distribute and absorb impact from rear end collision.
The strengthened cabin helps to protect the passenger space and design to help reduce
causalities.

Restraint device

A. Whiplash Injury lessening (WIL) concept seater

WIL concept seat helps lessen passenger’s whiplash injury from the impact caused by
certain low speed rear-end collision.

B. SRS airbag

In the event of a collision, SRS airbag inflates immediately to help absorb the impact
of collision.

When collided from the rear, built-in airbag in the ceiling above the rear seat inflates
to help absorb impact to the passenger’s head. It also helps protect secondary impact
from flying objects from the rear.

C. Seat Belt

Seat belt with pre-tensioner and force limiter.

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