The objective to this study was to examine the ability of emergency ph
ysicians to correlate between vehicle damage and velocity change, Part
icipants were five emergency medicine physicians at the Emergency Depa
rtment, Loyola University Medical Center, Maywood, IL, Ten slides of p
assenger cars crashed at speeds between 22 and 70 mph by the Insurance
Institute for Highway Safety were shown to study participants. Study
subjects were asked to estimate vehicular velocity based on the visibl
e damage. Only 23 (46%) of the estimates were within 10 mph of the veh
icular speed at the time of the crash. The average error was 14.5 mph
(range: -20 to +45 mph), Vehicular velocity was overestimated in 70% o
f the appraisals. We conclude that the ability of emergency physicians
to correlate between vehicle damage and velocity change is limited, U
nderestimation of vehicular damage associated with low velocity accide
nts may result in misdiagnosis of severe injuries in motor vehicle acc
ident victims.