Want To Know More About Whiplash? Ask a Demolition Derby Driver!

It’s common knowledge that whiplash injuries are no fun. Frequently the symptoms that arise from a front- or rear-end collision last a year or more and require extensive therapy to resolve. The automobile insurance industry loathes whiplash cases, often denying claims, hounding victims and accusing them of malingering and hysteria. Oftentimes, factions within medicine support this industry. Seemingly, research dollars are spent on studies conducted in an attempt to prove their point that most whiplash cases are, in essence, fraudulent.

For example, in the April 2003 edition of The Back Letter, two such studies were reported. One examined whiplash attitudes and injury expectations from various countries. Apparently, 50% of Canadians think that whiplash symptoms last months or years whereas very few Lithuanians or Greeks felt that these symptoms would last beyond the short-term. The article that originally appeared in the Medical Science Monitor drew the conclusion that whiplash syndrome is a “culturally conditioned illness” and is largely due to expectations, availability of various therapies and the possibility of litigation.

The other study discussed in this Back Letter has not been published but was presented at the annual meeting of the North American Spine Society in Montreal in 2002. This one could end up being a real shill for the auto insurance guys. Apparently questionnaires were sent out to 50 members of the Demolition Derby Association. Why only 50? Who knows, maybe that’s the entire membership? In any event, the questions were asking how many years the respondent had been involved in wrecking races, the approximate impact velocity s/he absorbed, the number of collisions per event and what short and long-term symptoms these drivers had after a race and in general. The findings were interesting.

A total of 40 drivers responded to the questionnaires. Each respondent had raced in an average of 11 events in the previous 3 years and a total of 30 altogether. The drivers reported an average of 48 low and medium velocity collisions in a race, each designed to cripple the car and put it out of commission. Fifty-four percent of these 48 whacks were to the rear-end of the car.

Many of the participants reported feeling neck pain in the days following the race. 27 of the 40 answered that they had pain that lasted less than 21 days, 2 for more than 3 months and 1 person had trouble for more than a year after an event. Three drivers had chronic long-term neck pain that they attributed to racing, but get this, 13 others had chronic neck pain they felt unrelated to demolition derby activities. Were these guys being defensive or what? Why would someone suffering chronic neck pain even entertain the thought of going in a crack-up derby?

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