Your ride-down time is the time that it takes your body to come to a complete stop in a car crash. In a frontal car crash between two vehicles, the rigid frames of the cars come to a complete stop from the impact generally within a fraction of a second. Car designers give their vehicles crumple zones, which help slow down your stop within the passenger compartment. The crumple zones at the front ends tend to be particularly large, giving you additional fractions of seconds to slow to a stop while these zones crumple in upon each other. Every additional fraction of a second that it takes you to stop helps decrease your chances of severe injury or death from a car crash. At our Pasadena, TX accident law firm, we’ve come to know the benefits of increased ride-down time from long experience.
The force of a car crash on your body increases according to your weight and the speed at which the car wreck occurs. As the time it takes you to stop from the crash increases, the total force on your body decreases. The more securely that you are harnessed in your seatbelt (and the more securely a child is harnessed into a car seat and the more securely that car seat is latched to the car), the more your ride-down time increases.
A loose harness that allows you to be thrown forward with great force against the seatbelt can cause deep lacerations and severe organ damage. A loose seat belt that allows your head to be thrown farther forward and more quickly increases your chances of severe head trauma. (Wearing no seatbelt can cause you to be ejected from the car, which increases your chances of severe injury or death from a car crash tenfold.) A tight harness that holds you in place gives you the benefits of the additional ride down time provided by the crumple zones of the car. Your car’s airbags, seatbelts, crumple zones, and frame all intend to increase your ride down time to help you slow down more gradually in a wreck. Our Pasadena, TX accident law firm has observed that ongoing crash testing of cars can help designers improve ride-down times.
Even though we can’t always control our chances of being in a car wreck or the speeds at which a car crash occurs, we can help control how much ride-down time we’ll have in a crash. To help reduce our chances of severe injury or death from a car crash, we can:
1. Wear our seatbelts;
2. Make sure those seatbelts tightly harness us and latch securely;
3. Make sure that there are no twists in the seatbelt straps (a single twist can increase your chances of severe injury by up to 20%);
4. Ensure that children have properly fitting car seats that tightly harness them in; and
5. Make sure those car seats latch securely to the car with no looseness in their connections.
If you have suffered a car crash, even with the benefits of increased ride down time, you may still have severe injuries. You may have heavy financial burdens from the wreck, as well as physical and emotional ones. As your medical expenses pile up, and you face lengthy periods where you can’t work because of your injuries, you may well need the financial compensation you could receive from a car accident claim.
At Denena & Points, we have more than 12 years of experience successfully helping injured accident victims to recover just compensation after their unexpected car crashes. We’re among Texas’ select few Board Certified Personal Injury attorneys. That means that we have the in-depth knowledge, hands on experience, and trial advocacy skills that you may need to win your claim. If you’re suffering from a traumatic car crash, and you don’t know where to turn for help, call our Pasadena, TX accident law firm today. We offer you a free legal consultation to answer your questions and help you explore your legal options after the car accident. Arm yourself with the knowledge you’ll need to make informed choices about your future and financial needs after your car crash: call today.