If you were in a car when the impact happened, you were sitting in a particular position. Your seat was set a certain distance from the wheel, your head sat at a certain height against the headrest, and your mirrors pointed at a certain angle. Those details fade within days. Writing them down now gives an examiner a clearer picture of how your body was placed when the force reached it.

This note is educational. It does not explain what caused any problem, and it is not a diagnosis. Its purpose is to help you collect facts you can bring to an exam.

What to write down

Start with the seat. Note whether it was pushed fully back, upright, or reclined. Note whether you sat close enough to reach the pedals with a slight bend in your knee, or whether you had to stretch. If you were a passenger, note where your seat sat relative to the door and whether you had turned toward a window, a child, or the glove box.

Next, the headrest. Was it at the height of the top of your head, below it, or missing entirely? Many drivers keep the headrest lower than it should be, and many passengers never adjust it at all. A short line such as "headrest at mid-back, below the top of my head" is enough. If the headrest was removed or the seat was damaged, record that too.

Then the mirrors and wheel. Write whether you had adjusted the rearview and side mirrors, how far you leaned to check them, and where your hands rested on the wheel. Some people grip with both hands at the top, others hold at the sides, and some drive with one hand at the bottom. Each choice changes how your shoulders and arms were loaded.

Where your seatbelt sat

Describe the belt path as you remember it. Note whether the lap portion sat low across the hips or rode up near the stomach, and whether the shoulder portion crossed your collarbone, sat near your neck, or was tucked under your arm. If a child seat or cargo was in the car, note its position too. Keep the words plain. "Shoulder belt crossed my left collarbone" is more useful than a guess about what the belt did.

Also note what you were holding or bracing against, if anything. A phone, a bag on your lap, or a hand gripping the door handle changes how the body moves, and these small facts are easy to forget. If you were not wearing a belt, say so. That is a fact, and it matters to the person examining you because it changes what they need to ask next.

Memory is loose, so date it

Write the note as soon as you can, and put today's date on it. Memory of the seconds before an impact often blurs, and what you recall on day three can differ from what you recalled on day one. You do not need to be certain. Mark what you are sure of, and mark what you are estimating, using words like "I think" or "about." An examiner would rather read a careful estimate than a confident detail that later changes.

Keep the note separate from opinions about who was at fault. Describing the seat, the belt and the mirror is a different task from describing the collision. Stick to positions and movements you can picture.

Bring it to the room

Bring the note on paper or on your phone. Read it aloud at the start of the visit if that helps you. You can say, "I wrote down how I was sitting, so I can answer questions from that." If you took a photo of your car's seat or headrest after the event, add it to the page with the date it was taken.

Do not treat the note as a conclusion. It cannot tell anyone whether a joint is injured, how much a joint moved, or how it will recover. Those answers come from an examination and, where needed, from tests the examiner chooses. Your job is to supply accurate facts about your seat, your belt and your position, so the exam starts from solid ground.

Small details, same day

If you can, make one more entry the same day. Note whether the seat has been moved since the impact, and whether you have driven a different vehicle since. A changed seat position makes it harder to reconstruct your posture later, and a short line recording the change keeps the record honest.

Finally, if sitting, turning or reaching has changed in a way you did not expect, write down what you noticed and when. A single sentence is enough. Notes like this help you describe your body, and they give your examiner something concrete to work with on the day you walk in.