Why T-Bone Car Accidents Are So Dangerous

By Your Health Magazine

Because Marysville sees everything from high-speed highway traffic to stop-and-go suburban driving, the risks of T-bone collisions remain constant. This city sits along the busy Interstate 5 corridor, making it a key passage for commuters and commercial vehicles.

Intersections are everywhere in Marysville. The structure of the streets, with a mix of older intersections and newer traffic expansions, means that some drivers might misjudge the right of way, leading to deadly crashes.

Victims of these crashes have a right to take the responsible party to court, and they stand a higher chance of getting justice and compensation by working with a great car accident lawyer in Marysville.

The most dangerous part is that the side of a car doesn’t have nearly as much protection as the front or rear, making T-bone crashes especially devastating.

Why Are Side-Impact Accidents So Dangerous?

Here are more reasons why T-bone accidents are deadly:

Limited protection for occupants

The sides of a car don’t have the same built-in protection as the front and back. While front-end collisions have bumpers, engine compartments, and airbags to help absorb force, the side of a car has only a thin door and sometimes a side airbag, if the vehicle is equipped with one. Many cars still lack side airbags, leaving occupants highly vulnerable to serious injuries.

Door intrusion and crumpling effect

A T-bone crash can be so forceful that it pushes the car door several inches, or even feet into the vehicle’s interior. This means that the driver or passenger sitting closest to the point of impact could be crushed by their own door.

The sheer force can break bones, cause organ damage, or even trap a person inside the vehicle, making it difficult for emergency responders to get them out quickly.

Life-altering injuries

The injuries resulting from T-bone accidents can be severe and permanent. Victims often suffer from:

Broken bones: The intense impact can fracture ribs, arms, legs, and pelvis bones, sometimes requiring extensive surgeries and months of rehabilitation.
Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI): If the driver or passenger’s head strikes the window or door frame, they can suffer from concussions or even permanent brain damage.
Spinal cord injuries: The force from a T-bone collision can cause whiplash, herniated discs, or full paralysis.
Internal Bleeding and Organ Damage: The force from the impact can rupture internal organs, leading to life-threatening bleeding.
Facial and dental disfigurement: Shattered glass and blunt force trauma can cause severe facial injuries, leading to permanent scars or loss of teeth.

Risk of fatality

According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), T-bone accidents accounted for nearly 6,000 deaths in 2021, making up 22% of all fatal car accidents in the United States. That’s over one-fifth of all deadly crashes.

This high fatality rate is largely due to the lack of protection and the severity of injuries that come with side-impact collisions.

Increased risk of secondary accidents

A T-bone accident doesn’t always end after the initial impact. If a car is struck at high speed, it may spin out of control, veer into other lanes, and collide with other vehicles, trees, poles, or even pedestrians.

The risk of a multi-car pileup is high, especially at busy intersections where other drivers may not have time to react.

Also, the sheer momentum of the impact can push a vehicle into oncoming traffic, setting off a chain reaction of collisions that makes the initial crash even more deadly. If the vehicle gets hit a second time, the chances of survival decrease dramatically.