Both experimental analysis of dynamic photoelasticity and numerical simulations of finite element computation have been carried out to study the responses of the lower lumbar spine (L3-L5) model to the axial impact load. In the photoelastic tests, the impulsive forces were loaded on the anterior and middle columns of the spine, to study the stress wave propagations with different forms including the stress focusing in the vertebra bodies which might cause bone fracture. In the FEM computations, the responses of the intervertebral discs were studied associated with von Mises stress movement in the vertebras, to show the stress history in those bodies with different phases and magnitudes during the impact energy transferring.