The east bank crosses the river the way other places cross town. Collinsville and Troy come over the Stan Musial. Granite City and Edwardsville use the Chain of Rocks. Belleville and Fairview Heights take I-64 to the Poplar Street. Columbia and Waterloo come over the Jefferson Barracks Bridge. When a crash happens on one of those routes, or anywhere on the drive, the reader still has to cross again the next week. For a lot of people that trip feels different.
Readers describe it in similar words. A grip on the wheel that will not relax. Watching the mirror more than the road. Flinching when brake lights come on ahead in a merge. Picking a longer route to avoid the stretch where it happened. Feeling worn out after a drive that used to be nothing.
This guide is not a mental health desk and will not diagnose anyone. It can say two practical things: this reaction is common after a crash, and it is worth mentioning when you are examined.
Why it is worth saying at an exam
Nerves at the wheel and a hurt neck tend to feed each other. A neck that cannot turn makes a lane change feel dangerous, and a driver who feels on edge holds their shoulders up around their ears for the whole crossing. By the time they reach the Missouri side, the neck is worse than when they left home.
There is also the head to think about. Feeling on edge, sleeping badly, being startled by noise, and struggling to concentrate in traffic can come from stress after a crash, and some of the same things can follow a concussion. This guide's concussion on the commute page covers the quiet signs. Sorting out which is which is not a job for a driver or a webpage. It is a reason to describe all of it at the exam, in plain words.
The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke describes mild traumatic brain injury, including changes in concentration, sleep and mood. If sleep has been off since the crash, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute explains how sleep deprivation affects attention and reaction time, which is the last thing a bridge merge needs.
What to mention, in a sentence each
- Whether you have driven since the crash, and how it felt.
- Whether a stiff neck or back makes the shoulder check or the merge harder.
- Whether sleep has changed.
- Whether you feel foggy, slow, or irritable in a way that is new.
- Whether anything has made you avoid driving altogether.
If the answer to any of those is yes and it is not easing over a few weeks, ask whether it belongs with your own doctor as well. Saying it is not a weakness. It is information.
Planning the first crossings
A few adjustments make the first trips easier, and none of them requires toughing it out.
Let someone else drive the first one
If a friend or family member can take you to your first exam, let them. Riding across as a passenger lets you see the route without the wheel in your hands, and a person with a sore neck should not be forcing shoulder checks in the Poplar Street merge anyway.
Use the bridge you trust
This guide's bridge by bridge page maps where each crossing lands. Most of Madison County reaches the Hazelwood office by I-270 over the Chain of Rocks. Monroe County and the south end of St. Clair County reach Tesson Ferry by I-255 over the Jefferson Barracks Bridge. If the crash happened near one crossing, it is reasonable to use another for a while, as long as it still gets you where you are going.
Cross outside the rush
A mid-morning crossing is usually calmer than the commute, and it lands before the offices close. Every Missouri Injury Clinic office closes from 12 to 2 daily, and Hazelwood and Tesson Ferry close at noon on Fridays, so a 9:30 or 10 o'clock appointment is the unhurried option.
Pull off if you need to
If a crossing brings on chest pain, trouble breathing, or a feeling that you cannot safely control the car, get off the road as soon as it is safe and call 911. 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. The nearest emergency department is on whichever side of the river you are on; this guide's emergency room first page says more.
The office on the other side
Missouri Injury Clinic has no Illinois location. Its nearest office for most of the east bank is Hazelwood, at 14 Village Square Shop Ctr, Hazelwood, MO 63042, phone (314) 627-1411, open Monday through Thursday 9am to 6pm and Friday 9am to 12pm. The clinic publishes its auto injury lane as diagnosis and a treatment plan after a crash, and a separate TBI and concussion rehab lane. Say it was a car crash, give the date, and mention that driving has felt different since.