DECEMBER 20, 2019
What fracture injuries are common in a car accident?
Fracture injuries are common in a car accident and when bones break, individuals can pursue compensation for medical expenses, lost wages and suffering.
What fracture injuries are most common in a car accident? What compensation can individuals pursue to treat and recover from these injuries? Fractured ribs, collarbones, arms, legs, and other bones can occur in any type of motor vehicle accident. When bones break, individuals can pursue compensation for medical expenses, lost wages, and pain and suffering.
Causes of Bone Fractures
Bones can fracture when individuals are thrown from the vehicle or get caught between two objects within the vehicle. They can break when the individual's body strikes the dash, steering wheel, or doors of the vehicle. When the individual is thrown from the vehicle, or if they are crushed within the vehicle, this often results in compound fractures that require extensive medical treatment and physical therapy to recover from.
Personal Injuries and Bone Fractures in the US
In 2016, approximately 2,177,00 individuals suffered injuries in motor vehicle accidents. This was a sharp increase over the 1,715,000 injured in 2015, and an increase of nearly 500,000 over the 1,648,000 injured in 2014. In all, 29.9% of motor vehicle accidents resulted in a personal injury that year.
Bone fractures account for approximately 16% of all musculoskeletal injuries in the United States. In all, roughly 6.3 million individuals receive treatment for a broken bone each year. Of those who are injured, 888,000 will require hospitalization.
Common Fracture Injuries in Motor Vehicle Accidents
Injuries to the lower extremities are the most common bone fractures. These include fractured tibia and fibula. These tend to occur when the vehicle crumples. In a high speed collision, it is also possible for the femur to fracture.
Rib fractures are also common. These can occur when the airbag inflates, when the body is pressed against the seatbelt, or when the individual's chest strikes the dash or steering wheel. Hip fractures are also particularly common. For younger individuals, car accidents are the most common cause of this type of fracture.
Facial and skull fractures typically happen when the cranium strikes the windshield or windows. They most commonly occur to individuals who are not wearing their seat belts during a collision, or to motorcyclists who are not wearing a helmet at the time of their crash.
Wrist, finger, clavicle, radius, and ulna fractures can occur for any number of reasons, but often occur as the individual tries to brace themselves during impact. These fragile bones break easily, but fortunately, they also tend to heal faster than other types of injuries.
Our Wichita based personal injury lawyers are car crash lawyers who have offices across Wichita and in Garden City. Our team will instantly go to work to prove accident injury victims are not at fault. You can use our contact page or get a free call at our Wichita offices at 316-684-4400 and our Garden City office at 620-843-2855.
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