Until recent years, I have known only one speed in my life – full tilt wide open with caution thrown to the wind. Unfortunately many of us don’t learn that we must be cautious until some tragic event or near tragic event causes us to take heed to all of the “be carefuls” our mothers used to shout out the back door behind us as we took off with fun in mind. For me it took a serious snow-skiing accident and a serious car accident to wake me up to the fact that being invincible isn’t reality.
This past week alone, we have treated no less than ten people who were involved in automobile accidents in this area. This is an inordinate number of people who are injured badly enough to be out of work and unproductive for a period of time. I was asked by one patient if the new moon made people more careless. Who knows? What I do know for sure is that a deadly combination of carelessness and recklessness is swirling around our area right now, and we must all take an extra moment to think about how lethal a weapon an automobile can be.
A common injury from automobile accidents is whiplash. It is caused by a sudden jerky back and forth motion of the head such as that caused in a rear-end collision. It takes only five miles per hour of speed at impact to cause someone to have a whiplash injury. Looking at x-rays of people who were in seemingly mild automobile accidents I can see where normal neck curves are no longer and arthritic changes have begun. If appropriate corrective care is administered one can see positive changes in x-rays and the restoration of normal curvature in short order. This is good news for some of the people I am writing about this week.
This past week, a patient reported that she and her husband were in traffic waiting for a light to change so that they could make a left turn and her husband looked in the rear view mirror to see a woman moving toward them at a high rate of speed. She was talking on her cellular phone and not really paying attention to what she was doing. She didn’t see that all of the cars in front of her were stopped, and she hit them moving at about 25 miles per hour. She was still talking on her phone when she got out of her vehicle. A major university did a study which concluded this past week that people who talk on cellular phones while they are driving develop a type of tunnel vision and are more focused on their phone conversations than on the routine of driving. The study also concluded that the tunnel vision continued for several minutes after the conversation was ended because the driver was still thinking about what was talked about on the phone. Please get a hands-free device for your phone if you must talk while you are in traffic. Not doing so jeopardizes the lives and health of others around you.
Another serious accident this past week occurred when someone was “cut off” by another vehicle. It seems that the vehicle which was cut off was not moving fast enough to suit the vehicle behind him, so the driver pulled around the slower vehicle and tapped his brakes, causing the slower vehicle to strike the passer. The slower vehicle subsequently rolled three or four times until coming to a halt against a tree. The driver is now suffering from multiple bumps and bruises, whiplash, and a concussion. The one who passed him left the scene. If road rage is getting to you in our not-so-little-anymore town, move to Los Angeles and fight with those people. We don’t need it here.
The last accident that I will share with you happened to a member of my extended family. She was minding her own business driving down Jefferson Street toward the Post Office and had the green light at Montgomery. Out of nowhere came a car which decided it didn’t want to wait for the arrow to come around again to turn onto Montgomery. The car was moving so fast that it rolled the van that it broadsided three times before it stopped. Now she is in the Medical Center with fractures in the first and second vertebrae in her neck. At the time I am writing this, we aren’t sure about her prognosis because the neurosurgeon will attempt tomorrow to apply a halo to hold the joints steady for healing. If this attempt works, three months at least in a halo is what she is facing. If it doesn’t, delicate, risky surgery will be necessary to stabilize the area. This is all because someone got in a hurry and couldn’t wait three more minutes.
In an instant of poor judgment, impatience, or recklessness, people’s lives can be adversely affected forever. It is worth an extra three or four minutes’ delay in our arrival somewhere to assure the safety of everyone. Take a moment to slow it down and use your head. Treat your body well.