There is No Correlation Between Property Damage and Severity of Injuries

Mark McLean

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Insurance adjusters often analyze an injury claim based on the amount of property damage to the car involved. The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration disagrees. On it's official Questions & Answers page, the NHTSA explains two important points: (1) bumpers are not safety features designed to protect passengers; and (2) there is no way to determine how fast a car was traveling based on damage to the bumper itself.

The NHTSA's stance on this issue backs up the legal principle that damages are calculated based on the injuries suffered, not based on the damage to the vehicle. Adjusters attempting to assert that an injury claim is limited by the damage to the vehicle is just plain wrong.

For more information on this subject, please refer to our section on Car and Motorcycle Accidents.