Brain injury from near-miss car incident
 

Hey guys, I'm trying to assess the likelihood of sustaining a brain injury from a near-miss accident that happened to me earlier today.

I was driving down the highway when I see a car a few hundred feet away from me starting to break, so I break too. But what I did not realize that this car was not just slowing down, it was coming to a complete stop.

I was traveling 55 mph, then I started to slow down, and then I realized the car ahead was actually coming to a standstill, at which point I had to slam on my breaks and decelerate rapidly, with the car tires screeching at the very end. Thankfully, I narrowly missed rear-ending the car in front of me.

My seatbelt locked and a few things fell off the front seat, but my airbag did not deploy.

I've suffered a concussion before, but it was a long time ago (5 years), so I am not worried about aggravating an old injury.

I'm mainly concerned because after the incident today I've developed a major headache. I would like to know if the process of slamming on one's breaks could be forceful enough to cause brain injury, or if you actually have to hit your head (or crash into something) in order to do that?

My heart was racing and this incident has caused me a great deal of stress, so I'm sure some of my disorientation can be chalked up to that. But this headache is unusual in that there was a slight tingly feeling on my head, and normally my headaches are only accompanied by a dull pain.

Is it possible for a rapid deceleration of one's car, ending in slammed breaks and screeching tires, to serve as a mechanism of injury for the brain? Or does this just not generate enough force?

Thanks so much.

Sounds like a flight/fight/fright incident, you were traumatized. I'd take a couple pain meds and lay down and even try to sleep or just relax relax relax.

aamfs94,

A car's brakes cannot cause a stopping action of more than 1 G. That has been tested. The tires are the limiting factor.

It takes 60 Gs to cause a mild concussion. 1 G has no risk to the brain.

The whip into the locked seatbelt could strain your neck and cause a headache.

Your anxiety can cause symptoms like a headache.

Unless you car or your head smashes into something, you cannot sustain the Gs required to cause a concussion when a car stops or slows down.

Please disregard Caroline2. She does not know anything about concussions.

Just relax. Avoid the pain meds.