There is a kind of reader the Journal hears from late, often two or three weeks after the crash. They were not driving. They were in the back of a rideshare coming home from dinner on Kirkwood Road, or in a coworker's car on the way to Clayton, or riding with a friend to a ballgame downtown. Somebody else's car got hit. Somebody else talked to the police, traded information, and dealt with the tow. The passenger got out, said they were fine, and went home.
By the time they call, they are describing the same stiff neck and sore back the driver has, with one difference. Nobody put the crash on their to-do list, including them.
Why passengers wait
The Journal thinks passengers wait for reasons that make sense from the inside:
- It did not feel like their crash. The driver had the phone calls and the car in the shop. The passenger had nothing to do, and nothing to do feels like nothing happened.
- They did not want to make it awkward. Readers do not want the friend or coworker who was driving to feel responsible, so they play it down.
- A rideshare trip ends and disappears. The app moves on to the next ride. There is no dented car in your driveway to remind you.
- They were not watching. Passengers are often looking at a phone, talking to the driver, or turned toward the back seat. They did not see the hit coming, which is the recipe for a surprised neck the Journal describes in three days later.
None of those reasons is one the body keeps. A passenger's neck, back and head take the same sudden stop as the driver's, and sometimes more, because nobody braced.
Where passengers get sore
Without describing anyone's injury, the Journal can say what passengers tend to report. Front-seat passengers describe the belt line across the chest and the shoulder opposite the driver's. Back-seat passengers who were turned to talk describe one side of the neck more than the other. Riders looking down at a phone describe the back of the neck and the base of the skull. Anyone in the back without a belt describes a knee or shoulder that met the seat in front.
Make the crash yours for five minutes
You do not need to handle anything the driver handled. You do need a small record of your own, because nobody else is keeping one for you. Five minutes is enough:
- The date and time. If it was a rideshare, open the app and take a screenshot of the trip receipt. It shows the date, the time, and the route.
- Where you were sitting, and whether you had a belt on.
- What you were doing at the moment of the hit: looking at a phone, turned to talk, dozing.
- The driver's name and number, or a text thread with the friend who was driving, so the date is easy to find later.
- What hurts, today and each day after.
That list is a care note, not an argument with anyone. It gives the person who examines you the history they need.
Getting seen as a passenger
The phone call is the same as the driver's. Say it was a car crash, say you were a passenger, give the date, and ask for an exam this week. Missouri Injury Clinic publishes its auto injury lane as diagnosis and a treatment plan after a crash, and says on its own site that it reserves same-day appointment times daily for car accident injuries. Nothing in how the clinic describes that lane limits it to the person holding the wheel.
The first visit is described in the Journal's getting seen entry: a history of the crash, an exam of how the neck and back move, findings in plain terms, and a written plan. Bring the screenshot and your five-minute note. Questions about billing are for the office on the phone; the Journal does not publish payment terms for a clinic it does not own.
If you were the driver
Some readers of this entry are the driver, wondering whether to say something to the friend who rode along. The useful thing is small. Tell them your own neck soreness showed up on day two or three, and that theirs might too. Text them the date and time so they have it. Then leave the decision to them.
The line that does not wait
Chest pain, a sudden severe headache, weakness or numbness on one side, trouble speaking, a loss of bowel or bladder control, or a head injury with vomiting or worsening confusion is an emergency room trip right now, not a call to a clinic. That is as true in the back seat as it is behind the wheel. The Journal's emergency room or clinic entry walks through it symptom by symptom.
The one action
The nearest office to Kirkwood is Tesson Ferry, at 11144 Tesson Ferry Road, Suite 200, about fifteen minutes down Lindbergh outside rush hour. It is open Monday through Thursday 9am to 6pm and Friday 9am to 12pm, closed daily from 12 to 2. Call (314) 530-5480, say you were a passenger, and ask for an exam this week.