What Causes Stiffness In Neck?

hi,
I'm and EMT was in an motor vehicle accident with me in the back of an ambulance travelling at 120km when it hit a moose. I wasn't wearing my seat belt so i was banged up. My right sided lower back started hurting. As the months went by i felt weaker in my legs and arms and my lower back felt tight . I then had an injury at work occur when i lifted a patient.The right side of my back was affected again but felt worse. The pain was there for 3 months. I did some physio with Workers compensation and was able to lift again after 5 months. But i would get neck stiffness. Two months after returning to work I had another lifting injury lifting a medium size patient. This time my neck was in pain along with my right side of my back. When I got an MRI it showed degenerative disc at the L1-2 disc with posterior disc bulging. My question is can a trauma have caused this degeneration of my disc with the pain that I am experiencing still?