Most people who suffer memory loss after a car accident have traumatic brain injuries, like concussions. They may have suffered a blow to the head during the collision, such as if they hit their head on the window or dashboard. Your head could also whip backward after impact and hit the headrest so hard you suffer a concussion or another type of brain injury.
That said, you could suffer a brain injury even if you do not get hit in the head. If your head and neck get whipped forward and backward during impact, this motion could be enough to cause a concussion. You may think you can only suffer a neck injury from this type of motion, but sometimes neck pain accompanies a brain injury.
Damage to the brain could also result from an open-head injury. For example, something (debris, glass shards, etc.) could break through the windshield and hit your head hard enough to break through your skull.
While memory loss is almost always because of a brain injury, you may also suffer memory loss because of:
Alcohol or drug abuse – Drivers who were under the influence of alcohol or drugs may struggle to remember the crash.
Pre-accident medical issues – Crash victims who were already suffering from dementia or Alzheimer’s may have trouble remembering the crash, in addition to many other events.
Emotional trauma – Sometimes people respond to trauma by forgetting about the traumatic event. This happens because the victim’s brain is in survival mode, which makes it harder to make new memories.