Serious Injuries Caused by Seat Belts

By Car Accident Help on June 27, 2016 | Posted in: Car Accident Injury

With more drivers on the road, Oklahoma City has seen an increase in auto accidents. Car accidents incur a massive number of bodily injuries, some of which seat belts have contributed to.

When an accident occurs, and the vehicle comes to a sudden and violent stop, a seat belt is often the only means of slowing the momentum of the moving bodies inside. It is a jolting and harsh action to be slowed so suddenly by a seat belt, and people often suffer injuries at the sites where their bodies make contact with the belt. Abrasions on the chest and abdomen of people wearing seat belts are commonly seen in the wake of car accidents. Subcutaneous bruising, or bruising which occurs beneath the skin, as well as sternum fractures, which are breaks or cracks in the bone running down the center of the chest, have become among the most common injuries to be suffered from seat belts.

Symptoms of sternum fractures include pain as well as tenderness in the sternum area. A myocardial fracture could occur as a result of a sternum fracture, but this is a rare event, thankfully. Never the less, victims of chest injuries are typically kept under observation until all immediate threats have subsided.

Another injury on the rise with seat belt users is intestinal wounds. Injuries like peritonitis and abdominal pain have been widely reported among victims of car accidents who wore seat belts. While some experts say it would be easy for a physician to overlook an abdominal injury in the presence of a sternum injury, seat belts have not been determined as the sole cause of these intestinal injury cases. While a large number of patients have suffered both chest and abdominal issues, the correlation between these two injuries does not determine the causation.

Most injuries caused by seat belts heal quickly with relatively no problems. These injuries include scrapes and bruising. Seat belts have also been known to cause injuries to the spinal cord, neck, and shoulders. Fractures and dislocations are among the most serious of these injures.

If you or someone you know has suffered a seat belt related injury as the result of a car accident, get in touch with Car Accident Help to determine if you are eligible for damage compensation. Contact us today at (877) 478-3737.