Low-impact collisions can actually cause severe injuries

Vehicles moving at high speeds are much more likely to cause catastrophic property damage and serious personal injury. However, any time that a vehicle strikes a person or another vehicle, both property damage and injuries will likely result.

There are far more low-impact collisions than high-speed crashes that occur every year, and many low-impact collisions aren’t officially reported. However, these collisions can still cause major injuries and therefore often warrant a police report and an insurance claim.

What are low-impact collisions?

Any crash that occurs at relatively low speeds is likely a low-impact collision. One example would be a driver approaching a toll booth and then striking someone on the sidewalk next to it. Motorists traveling too close to pedestrians in crosswalks, drivers distracted in school zones and all kinds of parking lot collisions are also often low-impact collisions. Rear-end collisions are also often low-impact collisions.

Even at low speeds, vehicles can cause catastrophic damage to property and people. A pedestrian in a parking lot, for example, could die if they get knocked down and hit their head on the pavement or on another nearby vehicle. People can also break bones when struck by a vehicle even if they don’t fall. In rear-end crashes, soft tissue injuries like whiplash could result.

A low-impact collision could destroy a bus stop rain shelter on private property or a smaller vehicle. It could knock over a motorcycle and damage it so severely that it requires replacement. People affected in low-impact collisions may need to make a police report and then file an insurance claim.

In cases involving obvious negligence or traffic law violations, those affected by low-impact collisions could potentially take their case to civil court. Pursuing an insurance claim or possibly a lawsuit can help to address any lasting or particularly costly consequences that someone may experience following a low-speed, low-impact motor vehicle collision.