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I've read it in a book and have heard people mention it, but I can't find any documentation about it. But the point being made is this:
The human collarbone acts as a shock absorber for impact on the shoulder or stretched arm. If too much force is put on the shoulder (EG: during a fall), the collarbone is designed to break to prevent injury to the neck and/or head.
Is this actually true and if so, can anybody point me to some documentation about it?
This looks like a misinterpretation. Because collarbone is the only horizontal long bone of the human body [1], it is the first to fracture when falling on the shoulder.
Its fracture can affect many structures:
The muscles involved in clavicle fractures include the deltoid, trapezius, subclavius, sternocleidomastoid, sternohyoid and pectoralis major muscles. The ligaments involved include the Conoid ligament and Trapezoid ligament [1].
It is indeed a shock absorber, but for the upper torso (some way or another any bone can be considered a shock absorber):
The clavicle also serves as something of a "shock-absorber" for the upper torso. Physical contact from the side will be partially absorbed by the clavicle. Because of this function, the clavicle is a very commonly broken bone [2].
The fracture can lead to severe injuries:
Displaced or comminuted clavicle fractures are associated with complications such as subclavian vessels injury, hemopneumothorax, brachial plexus paresis [...] [3]
References:
Crumple zone collarbone gives a ton of people mentioning it. So I'll upvote for the effort, but i'm not ready to accept it yet.
$\endgroup$
– Hugo Delsing
Aug 1 '14 at 7:11
