Yes, side impact car accidents can cause whiplash, and many accident victims must deal with this serious injury for a long time following a collision. If you feel soreness or stiffness in your neck following a side impact crash, you should get an immediate medical evaluation since you might have whiplash. Whiplash is a soft tissue injury resulting from the head whipping back and forth on the neck - like a whip cracks. Your head and neck do not need to shake forward and backward to sustain a whiplash injury, as the sideways shaking of a side impact injury is enough to cause whiplash. Many people do not understand whiplash injuries and underestimate the implications of this injury: Whiplash tends to be extremely painful, and while the pain can come and go, it can also become chronic. Whiplash is closely associated with serious losses in the range of motion. When the whiplash injury is severe, it can be physically debilitating. The impact to the neck (regardless of the direction the impact comes from) causes the injury, and the pain associated tends to flow from the neck down into the shoulders, back, and lower back. Whiplash often requires extensive pain management—in addition to physical therapy and alternative treatment options, such as chiropractic care. Some of the symptoms that a side-impact car accident may have caused a whiplash injury include: The onset of dizziness and fatigue A headache that radiates from the base of the skull Stiffness and pain in the neck region An increase in pain with motion An inability to move the neck in its normal range of motion Tingling and numbness in the arms The onset of tenderness in the shoulders, upper back, or arms