Injuries

Common Injuries After a Car Accident

Every motor vehicle accident injury is different — and how yours is classified under the NSW CTP scheme, threshold or non-threshold, has a real effect on what you can claim.

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Injuries and your CTP claim

Select an injury to see how it's typically treated under the CTP scheme — including whether it's likely to be classified as a threshold injury — and what evidence matters for your claim.

Whiplash
Whiplash is a soft tissue injury to the neck caused by the rapid acceleration-deceleration forces of a collision, and it's one of the most c…
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Back Injury
"Back injury" covers a wide range under the CTP scheme, and the specific diagnosis matters more here than for almost any other injury type.…
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Neck Injury
Neck injuries after a motor accident sit on a spectrum: at one end, a soft tissue strain (commonly called whiplash), which is generally trea…
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Concussion
Concussion (mild traumatic brain injury) is a common outcome of a car accident, and unlike whiplash, it's not defined as a soft tissue injur…
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Soft Tissue Injury
Soft tissue injuries — strains, sprains, and bruising to muscles, tendons and ligaments — are the injury type the CTP scheme's threshold inj…
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Psychological Injury
Psychological injury after a motor accident — anxiety, depression, PTSD-type symptoms, or acute stress reactions — is covered under the NSW…
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Shoulder Injury
Shoulder injuries from bracing against the wheel, a seatbelt, or a side impact range from a soft tissue strain to a rotator cuff or labral t…
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Fractures
Fractures — broken bones, from a hairline fracture to a complex break requiring surgery — are one of the clearer non-threshold injury catego…
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Knee Injury
Knee injuries are common in car accidents, particularly from dashboard impact or bracing on the pedals just before a crash. As with shoulder…
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Wrist and Hand Injury
Wrist and hand injuries often happen when a driver braces against the steering wheel in the moment before impact, or a passenger puts a hand…
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Hip Injury
Hip injuries in a car accident can result from direct impact, bracing, or the force of a seatbelt across the pelvis and hip. A soft tissue s…
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Rib and Chest Injury
Rib and chest injuries are a common consequence of seatbelt loading in a collision — the seatbelt does its job of restraining you, but the f…
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Traumatic Brain Injury
A traumatic brain injury (TBI) — more significant than a concussion, and often involving loss of consciousness, cognitive changes, or ongoin…
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Ankle and Foot Injury
Ankle and foot injuries commonly occur from impact with the pedals, footwell, or floor of the vehicle during a crash. As with other joint in…
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Lower Back Pain After a Car Accident
Lower back pain after a car accident can range from a mild muscular strain that settles within weeks, to nerve irritation or a structural in…
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Disc Bulge After a Car Accident
A disc bulge or herniation, confirmed on MRI, sits in one of the most contested parts of the CTP threshold test. The threshold definition co…
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Pelvic Injury After a Car Accident
Pelvic injuries can result from direct impact, seatbelt loading, or the forces involved in a side-impact or high-speed collision. As with ot…
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Delayed Symptoms After a Car Accident
It's genuinely common to walk away from a crash feeling more or less fine, only to wake up the next day — or a few days later — in significa…
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Chronic Pain After a Car Accident
Most soft tissue injuries settle within weeks to a few months, but for some people, pain persists well beyond that — sometimes becoming a ch…
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Headaches After a Car Accident
Headaches after a car accident are common and usually connect to one of two underlying causes: a neck injury (cervicogenic headaches, often…
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Jaw and TMJ Injury
Jaw and temporomandibular joint (TMJ) injuries can result from direct impact to the face or jaw, or from the same whiplash-type forces that…
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Sciatica and Nerve Pain
Sciatica and other nerve pain after a car accident — often radiating from the lower back into the leg — sits in an important legal category.…
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Driving Anxiety
It's extremely common to feel anxious about getting back behind the wheel — or even being a passenger — after a car accident, and this is re…
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Seatbelt Injury
A "seatbelt injury" describes the bruising, soreness, or in more serious cases internal or rib injuries caused by the restraining force of a…
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Common Injuries After a Car Accident

Injuries and your CTP claim

Whiplash

Back Injury

Neck Injury

Concussion

Soft Tissue Injury

Psychological Injury

Shoulder Injury

Fractures

Knee Injury

Wrist and Hand Injury

Hip Injury

Rib and Chest Injury

Traumatic Brain Injury

Ankle and Foot Injury

Lower Back Pain After a Car Accident

Disc Bulge After a Car Accident

Pelvic Injury After a Car Accident

Delayed Symptoms After a Car Accident

Chronic Pain After a Car Accident

Headaches After a Car Accident

Jaw and TMJ Injury

Sciatica and Nerve Pain

Driving Anxiety

Seatbelt Injury

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