Whiplash is one of the most common injuries that occur in car accidents, especially ones that involve a rear end collision. Whiplash happens when the victim’s head is violently jerked back and forth, turning your head into the end of Indiana Jones’s favorite weapon. This movement can cause injuries that range from mild to severe and will most likely affect how much you can expect to get in the auto accident settlements that result from your case.

The violent jerking back and forth your head does when it is subjected to whiplash can have many different effects on your body. If you’re just in a minor accident you may only have a sore neck for a few days. However, if you’re in a more serious accident there are several other effects that you may feel. These can include dizziness, lower back pain, sharp pains in your neck, and memory problems. Depending on how serious your crash is you may even suffer ruptured or crushed disks in your spin from the whiplash.

When it comes time to negotiate a whiplash settlement, the insurance company will take several things into consideration when determining the amount they want to offer you. The first thing they look at is how the injury directly affected your well being and livelihood. If you were forced to miss work or undergo long periods of physical therapy you can expect much more in terms of both recoverable damages and pain and suffering. How bad your crash looked also plays a part because these photos are admissible in court and can influence and jury if you should so choose to take the insurance company to court. Other factors that influence the amount of damages you can recover from whiplash include the degree of fault for each driver, the amount of negligence on the fault of either driver, and if there were alcohol or drugs involved in the crash.