Whiplash

Whiplash injury(medical: Whiplash Associated Disorder, WAD) is the collective term for symptoms arising from a sudden acceleration-deceleration movement of the head relative to the torso — typically after a rear-end collision in traffic. The cervical spine undergoes a whiplash injury movement in which muscles, ligaments and nerves are overstretched or damaged.

Symptoms vary by severity class (Quebec Task Force WAD I-IV):

In personal injury law, whiplash injury is challenging: in the absence of objective abnormalities (MRI, EMG), the opposing party often relies onpreliminary hearing (predispositie)or psychological component. Yet judges recognize subjective whiplash injury complaints as real injury — provided sufficient medical documentation and consistency in the pattern of complaints. Damages for pain and suffering (smartengeld) vary from € 750 (mild) to € 25,000+ in cases of chronic complaints with work disability.