Whiplash 1

Vehicle Damage v. Passenger Injury 

“The amount of damage sustained by the car bears little relationship to the force applied.  To take an extreme example: If the car was struck in concrete, the damage sustained might be very great but the occupants would not be injured because the car could not move forward, whereas, on ice, the damage to the car could be slight but the injuries sustained might be severe 

because of the rapid accelerations permitted.”

Ian Macnab 

Associate Professor of Surgery, University of Toronto 

Chief of Division of Orthopaedic Surgery, 

Wellesley Hospital, Toronto. 

“Acceleration Extension Injuries of the Cervical 

Spine” Chapter 10 in THE SPINE by Rothman 

and Simeone. 

WB Saunders Company 

1982 

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