Whiplash Injuries High In The UK

The amount of whiplash injuries and as a consequence, whiplash claims, are rising in light of the economic climate.

The Association of British Insurers (ABI) have stated that they receive around 1,200 claims every day. With the average amount paid out for a whiplash claim around £5,000, nearly £2 billion is being spent on compensation for whiplash injury every year.

In fact the UK is Europe's 'whiplash capital' with the highest amount of claims of this nature throughout the continent.
High

Stephen Haddrill, the director general of the ABI, commented on the strange epidemic, saying: "Insurers want to reduce whiplash, provide fast care and
compensation and tackle fraudulent claims. We call on the Government, road safety groups, the medical and legal professions and other stakeholders to work with us on a campaign to reduce this problem."

But what are the main reasons for the high amount of car accidents? Aside from fraudulent claims which make up a section of the statistics, tailgating has been highlighted as a significant reason for the high numbers of whiplash injuries.

Being one of the most densely populated countries in Europe could also be contributing to an increasing number of road traffic accidents resulting in whiplash injury. Whiplash is most often caused by a low speed, rear impact car accident, the type of which is common in urban areas where there is a large amount of slow moving traffic.

The government has suggested that improved testing for drivers might alleviate the problem as well as introducing stricter monitoring methods in an attempt to force drivers to adhere to the rules of the road.

These statistics are partly due to the recent cold snap the UK suffered which made the roads increasingly treacherous for all concerned. The rise in claims has put a strain on other aspects within the motor industry, including car insurance premiums which have risen accordingly.

Simon Douglas, director of AA Insurance said: "The cost of whiplash claims equates to about £66 for every UK car insurance policy, or about 14 per cent of the average Shoparound car insurance premium. This is more than twice the cost of claims for accidents with uninsured drivers.

"Over the past year, the average quoted Shoparound premium for a comprehensive car insurance policy increased by 8.7 per cent and whiplash injury will become an increasingly important factor in future premium increases."
Gender

The statistics also show that women are more likely to suffer whiplash injury compared to men. One possible reason for this is that women usually sit closer to the steering wheel and have a more upright seat.

As part of an effort to reduce the occurrence of whiplash, some experts have suggested that the types of crash test dummies used during safety development trials need to be changed.
A spokesperson said, "Current crash dummies used to develop vehicle seats and neck supports, for instance, are geared to men of normal size, but not to women. This is especially true in regard to height. Nor does testing methodology take into consideration differences between the sexes, or differences in sitting position between the driver's seat and the front passenger seat."