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Car accidents can happen to anyone at any time, and one of the most important aspects of driving is keeping everyone safe. Most automakers have smart safety systems in their cars that can help keep drivers and their passengers safe, but there are less high-tech ways that can also improve your safety. Here’s a look at the one type of hair clip that you should never wear while driving.

Many types of injuries can happen in a car accident

It goes without saying that fatal car accidents are the worst-case scenario, but drivers and passengers can also suffer serious non-lethal injuries due to an accident. However, due to the wide variety of ways car accidents can happen, it’s tough to address every possibility. Still, one of the most common accidents is a frontal crash, and those types of crashes can result in a variety of injuries. 

Of course, the type of injury also depends on the severity of the crash, as well as the safety features of the cars. However, it’s not uncommon for folks to get bruised or even break bones in those accidents. Women, in particular, are statistically susceptible to leg injuries in a crash. Even if nothing is broken, these accidents may give drivers and passengers whiplash, another common injury.

Sometimes, it’s possible to get into a car accident at no fault of your own. A typical example of such an accident is getting rear-ended. Overall, these types of frontal crashes are also part of why folks should avoid wearing a specific kind of hair clip.

Drivers should never wear this one type of hair clip while driving

According to a viral TikTok from Natalie Kate, an ultrasound student, people should avoid wearing claw clips when driving or in a car. Claw clips are a common type of hair clip. They have two claws with many pointy ends that can clasp onto a bundle of hair. Claw clips are usually used to hold someone’s hair back, as the claws will clamp down on the hair and keep it in place. 

As a result, the most common hairstyles with a claw clip will involve the clip on the back of the person’s head. This is not a new hairstyle, but according to The New York Times, it’s gained a resurgence in popularity lately. Still, as the viral TikTok clip said, this can be a hazard. A doctor who worked with Kate told her that they’d received a lot of patients, usually women, who were impaled by their claw clip during a car accident.

A claw-type hair clip on Anna Wolfers in Hamburg, Germany
A claw-type hair clip | Jeremy Moeller/Getty Images

It may be surprising that a plastic hair clip can do damage, but it’s happened in the real world. As The New York Times wrote, Hannah Torralba is a young woman in California who tried some claw clip hairstyles. One day, while she and her boyfriend drove on the freeway, the pair got rear-ended. Like many rear-end accidents, the impact force caused Torralba’s head to fly forward before recoiling and hitting the headrest.

Because she was wearing a claw clip at the time, the accident essentially slammed the claw clip into the back of her head. Fortunately, the force of the impact wasn’t powerful enough to cause the claw clip to impale her, but it did bruise her head nonetheless. This accident was severe enough for Torralba to avoid wearing claw clips while she was in a car.

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