Last Friday I was rear ended on the motorway after stopping in heavy, slow moving traffic. The car behind shunted me into the car infront and left my back somewhat out of sorts.
In the impact, my foot came off the brake and I was moved forward. Disregarding the car infront, if I had applied the handbrake, would that have made the impact worse for me? Trying to remember my schooling in Physics, if the car had moved less, would it would have imparted more of the force on me inside?
Sounds like you did the right thing. I’m guessing this thread will garner some physics equations, but from a pratical point of view I believe it’s a good idea to keep your foot on the brake when stopped in traffic.
If you had not been braking the impact would have propelled your vehicle forward more suddenly, thereby making the seat hit your back harder, then your impact w/ the car in front would have been more violent, throwing your body forward at a higher rate.
Also, if you’re waiting to make a right turn you should keep your wheels straight, to help prevent your vehicle from being pushed into oncoming traffic.
See the thing is, I’m guessing my foot came off the brake under the impact of the crash, I was in stop-start traffic and was using the footbrake instead of the hand brake.
I was wondering if letting the car move forward more freely would impart more or less impact on me. I’m thinking now it would have caused more damage to the car’s behind but thrown me less if I’d had the handbrake on.
Just a guess, but your foot more likely came off when you impacted the car in front. The handbrake may have been slightly more effective, but if you’re think of using it every time you stop in traffic I can think of another scenario that makes that a bad idea. What if you looked in the rear view and saw that a vehicle behind wasn’t going to stop, assuming that you had room to move out of the way, releasing the handbrake might use too much time and prevent you from acting fast enough.
One other thing is to adjust your headrest so that it is directly behind the center of your skull.
OBTW, allowing the car to move freely will increase the forces on your body, braking is the best idea.
In the event, all I had time to do was think “Oh no.” 
Indeed, the seats in my Dad’s SAAB are superb for that, not in the Civic. Both cars have been (painfully) tested.
Yeah, it’s pretty rare that you’d have time to move, but not impossible. I have no experience w/ airbags, but it seems logical that adjusting the headrest would be even more important w/ them.
Pickup trucks seem to be more dangerous because your head is slammed against the rear window in a rear end collision.
Yup, you’re better off making your car as immobile as possible, and stamping on the brakes will lock all 4 wheels nicely. Handbrakes/emergency brakes would make little difference in a rear-ender, as they’re relatively weak and only operate on 2 wheels.
The only danger with braking to brace oneself against a shunt is that the right leg is more likely to be injured if it’s braced hard against the brake pedal rather than relaxed and free.
Just to extend this idea, rather than being in a car, you’re in a concrete bunker that stays completely immobile in the accident. In the bunker, you’re 100% uninjured, because you just sat in a chair and didn’t move an inch. In the car, you get thrown around because the car moves when hit.
Less motion (less change in motion, really) = less injury.
I don’t know that the handbrake would have helped much if you already had the footbrake depressed. Handbrakes are generally not as powerful as the main brake system, they’re ok in an emergency, or to hold the car when parked, but that’s about it.
I thought of the handbrake vs footbrake, the handbrake however would be less likely to be release, I’m pretty sure the impact took my foot off the brake. I didn’t really think about bracing the rest of my body, just tried to get my head facing forward.
Glad you’re reasonably OK. Most of the damage happend during the initial impact when your car was nudged forward “out from under you.” This was most likely when your foot came off the brake–as you began sinking back into your seat the distance between you and the pedal increased. In rear end impacts it’s not uncommon for a seat back to collapse under the strain as g-forces amplify your weight against it. By keeping the car immobile for as log as you could you allowed your car’s rear crumple zone to absorb much of the impact. And that was a good thing.
But keep in mind that the hand/parking brake typically works only on the rear wheels, and that 75% or more of effective stopping force falls to the front brakes, it really wouldn’t have made much difference if you had the presence of mind to apply it. Chances are you were already injured before you even hit the car in front of you.
Oh yeah, the secret to avoiding injury is to relax. Like a cat. You tense up before the impact and you’re gonna tear stuff when your muscles get shocked into motion and try to restrain body parts that have suddenly accellerated. So folks, next time you see a big rig bearing down on your rearview mirror, just relax. Hell, go ahead and faint!