If you were injured in a car accident and broke a bone, know that having a car accident attorney by your side is key to ensuring you have the highest chances of receiving the compensation you need to fully recover from your losses. Car accidents and broken bones are both painful, and the party that caused the accident should be accountable for your medical treatment costs as well as the loss of income and personal pain and suffering you must endure.
The Personal Injury Lawyers™ of Chicago is an experienced car accident injury law firm, and we are ready to step in and assist you with your case. Find out more about how much your claim could be worth and what you can do to increase your chances of full recovery when you call (312) 999-9990 or contact us online to schedule a free, no-obligation case review.
What Can a Chicago Car Accident Broken Bone Attorney Do for Your Case?
Hiring an attorney is vital if you are working towards securing the full compensation you need to pay off your medical bills and account for missed work hours.
Not only can an attorney help you document your damages and seek full compensation, but they also save you time and effort. Working with insurance companies and other involved parties can overwhelm the average person.
Handling insurance claims takes time, energy, and skill that not everyone is prepared for. However, when you work with the right legal team to help you, these tasks and all claims negotiations can be handled on your behalf.
Insurance companies are known to pressure victims to settle for less or find ways to deflect blame from their clients. But at The Personal Injury Lawyers™, we know how to handle these kinds of strategies — and we have strategies of our own to pressure the other side to settle for what we feel your case deserves.
Working through hundreds of personal injury cases teaches an attorney exactly how to build a strong personal injury claim. Your Chicago car accident lawyer will review and analyze evidence as it applies to your case, using that information to identify and calculate the value your damages.
In more complex cases, where insurance companies are often hesitant to settle for the amount a personal injury case indicates, your attorney will stand by their client and serve as your advocate throughout negotiations and up to the point of a lawsuit and jury trial, if it comes to that.
How a Car Accident Can Easily Result in a Broken Bone
The force of a crash applies significant pressure on the body, causing bruising, lacerations, possible organ damage, and broken bones.
Six types of fractures commonly occur during a car accident:
- Arm and leg fractures
- Collarbone fractures
- Rib fractures
- Spinal fractures
- Skull fractures
- Pelvis fractures
Although car manufacturers work hard to develop and implement safety measures in their vehicles, they cannot protect riders from everything. With the right direction of impact, riders can be thrown against their seat, window, steering wheel, and car frame.
In addition, the sheer force of the crash will cause flying debris, which can further create injury.
Broken bones happen most often when there is at least one of the following:
- Direct impact with the cabin or windows
- Whiplash
- Deceleration injuries
- Crushing injuries
- Passenger ejection from the vehicle
Direct Impacts
When a person’s body strikes an object during a collision, it is considered a direct impact. These objects can include the car’s dashboard, steering wheel, or even debris that is flying throughout the cabin.
Accidents happen quickly, meaning that a person inside the car has little time to react to protect their body — if at all. With such force being applied to the body, wrists, arms, legs, and ankles are likely to face direct impact from the surrounding parts of the car.
These broken bone injuries are typically accompanied by scapes, deep cuts, bruises, and swelling in the affected area. Some may also brace themselves instinctually against the air bag or dashboard, increasing the risk of forearm and wrist breaks.
Whiplash
Whiplash is one of the most common types of injuries seen in car accidents. It is caused by the forces of the vehicle coming to a sudden stop, shoving a person forward and suddenly back to where they were from all of the inertia.
While it often stems from the restraining actions of a seatbelt, whiplash will almost always result in a less severe injury than being ejected from the car. The force that causes whiplash can also create fractures in the surrounding bone structures like the shoulders, spine, and even skull.
Deceleration Injuries
Deceleration happens when a person’s body comes to a sudden stop. The car’s seatbelt, airbag, and frame may apply significant force to a person’s body, creating fractures in their shoulders, pelvis, collarbone, and ribs.
These injuries are usually accompanied by bruising, lacerations, and swelling of the area.
Crushing Injuries
Getting an arm or leg caught between two objects will generally cause significant breaks in the bone. In more-complicated accidents, a part of the vehicle’s cabin may become crushed by the impact forces, deforming the cabin and suddenly pressing an occupant’s delicate body between two very hard surfaces.
These kinds of crushing effects are often life-threatening.
Ejection Injuries
Being ejected from a vehicle can easily be fatal. The occupant is typically thrown into or through the windshield, causing broken bones, bruising, organ damage, head injuries, and more.
Subsequent injuries can be worse after a full ejection, as the body hits the ground or object with most of the sheer force preserved from the crash. These victims typically experience additional head, neck, and spinal trauma that may lead to life-long disabilities, drastic changes to quality of life, and disfigurement.
Common Types of Car Accidents That Cause Broken Bones
A study on motor vehicle collisions in the National Library of Medicine analyzed the different types of car accidents and which are more likely to cause broken bones. Three types of crashes are more likely to cause broken bones in its victims:
- Head-on and side collisions lead to injuries resulting from the direct impact from the dashboard and steering wheel against the body. When these result in fractures, victims face them in their face, head, clavicle, wrists, ribs, and arms.
- T-bone accidents are associated with a multitude of injuries, especially to the passenger closest to the point of impact. More often, they face fractures that are to the pelvis, neck, clavicle, and head.
- Rear-end impacts cause victims to be jolted forward suddenly when another car hits them from behind. In these cases, common injuries are to the neck, including fractures to spinal discs.
In general, victims who are involved in an accident face more injuries if they are closest to the point of impact, as these victims are taking the brunt of the force of the crash. In addition, the study also found that older victims are more likely to experience broken bones and more complicated injuries, including injuries like broken ribs.
They are likely to experience broken bones, no matter the severity of the crash.
Bone Injuries: Fractures vs. Breaks
Medically, there is no difference between a fracture and a break.
All human bones are strong and tolerant and can withstand substantial amounts of force without facing any damage. However, when a large amount of force is applied to a bone suddenly, it may create the perfect circumstance where bones cannot tolerate the force being applied and fracture as a result.
In the aftermath, victims are in immediate pain and suffer with limited mobility and strength. The break in their bone may be jagged, potentially causing additional damage to the surrounding tissues and organs.
Victims must go to a hospital, where they will be evaluated by medical staff and undergo scans to ensure they receive a proper diagnosis.
Broken bones vary in severity and may require casts, slings, metal plates and screws, and surgery to correct. In some severe cases, they may puncture a lung or heart, creating a life-threatening injury.
There may also be substantial compound breaks affecting a large bone, such as the femur, which can risk infection, reduced blood cell count, and other complications. The recovery from any break can take many weeks if not months, and the victim would then commence physical therapy sessions to regain the mobility and strength of the damaged limb or area.
Your Local Chicago Car Accident Broken Bone Law Firm Is Here for You
Realizing that someone else’s negligence has seriously hurt you is both frustrating and terrifying to experience. Bone breaks during a car accident will lead to costly medical bills and a multitude of appointments.
Victims will miss many days at work and may have to undergo surgery. In any case, they will find themselves dependent on their loved ones to complete the tasks that they typically would complete themselves.
This creates a high degree of personal pain and suffering throughout the recovery process.
Know that the Personal Injury Lawyers are here for you. Our goal is to get to the bottom of your case and work towards securing the settlement you need to repay all medical bills and compensate you for the remaining damages.
Give us a call today to schedule a free case review with an experienced Chicago attorney when you call (312) 999-9990 or contact us online.
