Abstract
Physicians are seeing significant numbers of "soft tissue" injuries to the neck and head ostensibly attributable to low velocity rear end collisions. These include cervical strain/sprain, headache, temporomandibular joint problems, and exacerbation of degenerative joint disease. The vehicle-occupant kinematics, injury models, diagnostic criteria, treatments, and prognoses are controversial. This paper addresses some of these considerations from the perspectives of the accident reconstructionist, the biomechanicist, and the physician.