You’ll Never Wear A Claw Clip In The Car Again After Watching This Viral TikTok

Few things are easier than grabbing a claw clip and twisting your hair up on the way out the door to pick up the kids from school. If you have medium-length or long hair, this (back in style!) go-to accessory is likely in your purse or glove compartment right now. But one TikToker’s viral story about the dangers of wearing a claw clip while driving might just leave you reaching for a good old-fashioned scrunchie to pull back your hair instead.

TikTok user Arielle Elonys recently warned her followers to ditch their clips before hopping in a car after her own traumatic car accident. “This may be one of the most important videos you watch in a while, and that’s not clickbait,” she explains at the start of the video. “This is information that could have changed my life if I had had it six months ago.”

Elonys goes on to share she was in a car accident that broke her back in three places. At the time, she was wearing a claw clip while driving. “Because it prevented my head from going back when the airbag hit me, my back broke,” she continues. “My upper back broke.”

While Elonys’ experience may sound like a freak accident, she’s not the first person to share a scary claw clip story. As she notes in her video, there have also been incidents of the clips being embedded in people’s heads during accidents. In March, another TikTok user, paisley.rileyyy, revealed a metal clip was shoved into her scalp when a sharp turn on an off-road vehicle caused her to hit her head on a pole.

In both cases, the claw clip was left intact, while the women were left with injuries. Elonys' comments section quickly filled up with people thanking her for the warning. "I'll never drive with a claw clip again," one person wrote. Another added, "New fear unlocked. Thanks for sharing; I would never have thought about this danger. So sorry for all you have been through since the accident."

Others were shocked that the clip didn't break. "Doesn't break on impact in accident but breaks when you drop it once on the bathroom floor. Make it make sense," a TikTok user commented. The fact it didn't still baffles Elonys, too. "You'd think this would break," she exclaims. "This is, like, a Target purchase. Didn't."

So, if you're contemplating tossing all of your claw clips in the trash, you're definitely not the only one. Now that you know how dangerous it is to wear a claw clip while driving, here are a couple of things you can do to keep yourself and your family safe:

• Make it a habit to take your claw clip out of your hair before leaving the house.
• Remind your kiddos not to wear clips while they're in the car or in any moving vehicle.
• Opt for round clips over long, straight ones. Texas ER doc J. Mack Slaughter told BuzzFeed in March that the more flexible a clip is, the more likely it is to absorb some of the impact from an accident.
• Keep plenty of scrunchies and hair ties in your car for hair emergencies.
• Make sure nothing is preventing your head from being cushioned by the car's headrest.

Claw clips will always have their place in your hair routine — but it's probably best to make sure they stay out of your hair when you're in a car.