Posted: November 29th, 2013
The Injuries Board of Ireland has published a press release relating to motor liability claims in which awards of compensation for whiplash injuries are at the top of the list.
The figures released by the Injuries Board show that the Government body received 7,622 applications for the assessment of compensation when injuries had been sustained in a road traffic accident – approximately 75 percent of all the applications received by the Injuries Board in 2012.
The press release states that “the most prevalent injuries sustained in the vast majority of motor claims include soft tissue injuries (neck and back), and orthopaedic related injuries (fractures etc)” and comments that women make slightly more claims for whiplash injury compensation than their male counterparts.
There are several possible explanations for this:
- Women generally have weaker neck muscles than men and are more prone to injury when a rear-end accident occurs
- Women are more likely to be seated in the passenger seat when a rear-end accident occurs and not have the split second that a driver may have to brace prior to impact.
- Car seats are designed to accommodate men, who are generally heavier and taller than women, so that the impact of a rear-end accident frequently results in more severe neck and upper back injuries
The statistics also showed that the average value of awards for car accident injuries in 2012 was €20,631, and that Donegal (11) and Cork (10) were the counties in which the highest number of fatal accidents due to somebody else´s negligence occurred.
Commenting on the figures, Patricia Byron – CEO of the Injuries Board – said “Our award trends indicate that the winter months are the most dangerous on our roads and we are urging all road users to be extra vigilant at this time. We awarded over €157m in compensation for injuries sustained in road traffic accidents last year which reflects the significant human cost of these accidents not to mention the social impact.”
Categories: Passengers in Car Accidents, Whiplash Compensation Claims, Whiplash from Car Accidents
