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A two-vehicle crash in Chicago’s Marynook neighborhood left three people injured recently, according to a Fox 32 news report.

Reports From the Crash

According to the Chicago Police Department, the accident occurred Thursday, April 3, in the 8600 block of South Stony Island Avenue. Two vehicles were involved: a white SUV and a white sedan. 

According to investigators, the white SUV was traveling east when it collided with a white sedan, which was traveling north. The SUV came to a stop against the wall of a nearby building.

Two people in the SUV, the driver and a passenger, were both taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center for treatment of their injuries. The driver of the sedan was taken to Christ Hospital for treatment after suffering injuries as well. 

The Major Accidents Unit of the Chicago Police Department investigated the collision. 

Common Car Accident Injuries

According to information from the Chicago Police Department, the occupants of the SUV suffered two common types of car accident injuries: blunt force trauma and broken bones.

Blunt force trauma occurs when a force strikes the body or the body hits something else. Common causes of blunt force trauma in car accidents include:

• The trunk of the body colliding with the steering column, dashboard, doors, or other parts inside the vehicle,
• A vehicle colliding with a person’s body – either directly, as in a pedestrian crash, or indirectly, such as by hitting a vehicle door with enough force to collapse it inward and injure the vehicle’s occupant. 

Blunt force trauma can cause serious injuries. Damage occurs without objects penetrating the skin. It can be difficult to tell at a glance how bad the injuries are. However, blunt force trauma can damage organs, break bones, and cause internal bleeding. Trauma is the most common cause of death in patients under age 35 and the sixth most common cause of death worldwide, according to an article in StatPearls.

Broken bones are also a common type of car accident injury. The forces of a crash can fracture nearly any bone in the human body. 

A study of car accident patients in Saudi Arabia between 2018 and 2019 found that some bones break in car crashes more often than others. The study found that the most commonly broken bones in a car crash included:

• Femur (25.9 percent): Running from the hip to the knee, the femur is the largest bone in the human body. It is also the most commonly broken bone in a car crash.
• Humerus (21.6 percent): The humerus connects the shoulder to the elbow. It is the second most common site of a bone fracture in a car crash. 
• Spine (17.6 percent): Fractured vertebrae in the spine were the third most common broken bone in a car accident. When spinal cord damage occurs, the injury can be difficult to treat, cause permanent paralysis, and incur significant lifelong costs.
• Skull (14 percent): Skull fractures can occur alongside concussions and other forms of traumatic brain injury, which can also be difficult to treat and cause lifelong problems. 
• Ribs (12.6 percent): Rib fractures commonly accompanied other forms of blunt force trauma injuries, such as damage to the lungs and other organs. 

Broken lower arm bones, pelvis, collarbone, and bones in the hands and feet also commonly occurred among those injured in car accidents. 

Factors That Can Increase the Risk of a Chicago Car Crash

While no time of day or roadway is free of accident risks, some factors make a crash more likely than others. Several such factors can be identified from Chicago Police information about the crash in the Marynook neighborhood.

• Time of day. The crash occurred just before 8:30 p.m., according to police. Darkness can make it harder for drivers to see what’s ahead – requiring additional care to avoid a crash. 
• Intersections and driveways. The direction of travel of both vehicles indicates they may have been at an intersection or one may have been leaving a driveway. These sites increase the risk of an accident because vehicles are traveling across one another’s paths.

Other factors can increase the risk of a car accident as well. Understanding how drivers behaved leading up to the crash matters, too. When a driver fails to take reasonable care to prevent harm, their negligence can result in serious injuries. 

Injured in a Chicago car accident? Speak to an experienced Chicagoland car accident lawyer hoy. El equipo de Briskman Briskman & Greenberg puede ayudar.