Car accidents cause extreme trauma to the body. During a collision, crash force transforms a 100-pound person into a 3,000-pound force. Experts describe the impacts on the body in a crash at only 30 miles per hour as similar to falling from a three-story building or being hit by an elephant weighing 3.5 tons. Often, the body cannot withstand this type of trauma, causing breaks in the body’s structural support—the bones.
Fractures are a common serious injury in car accident claims in Washington, leading to pain, trauma, and often a temporary inability to work. Even simple fractures are painful and costly to treat, but more complex fractures can have temporary or permanent life-altering impacts. A car accident lawyer in Everett can help you navigate your claim to get you the compensation you deserve.
What Types of Car Accidents Cause Broken Bones?
Senior citizens and elderly adults are more likely to suffer fractures in a car accident due to more fragile bone density, but broken bones can occur to motorists of all ages from blunt-force trauma and the violent jarring of a collision. Common car accidents that result in broken bones include the following:
- T-bone accidents (angle collisions)
- Rear-end collisions
- Head-on collisions
- Sideswipes
- Roadway departure accidents
- Rollovers
- Collisions with objects and obstacles like guardrails or trees
When a driver or a passenger has time to brace themselves for a collision by using their arms or legs, they are more likely to experience a fractured limb. However, research studies show that this is a more favorable outcome than the internal injuries that might otherwise occur without bracing.
What Types of Fractures Are Common in Washington Car Accidents?
Car accident victims may suffer single or multiple fractures, depending on the type of accident, the speed at which the accident occurred, and the severity of the crash. Common types of broken bones in car accident claims in Washington include the following:
- Stable fractures: these breaks are also called non-displaced or clean-break fractures
- Compound fractures: these occur when one end of the broken bone breaks through the skin
- Greenstick fractures: a partial break where the bone bends (more common in children)
- Comminuted fractures: when a bone breaks into shards or fragments, requiring surgery to repair
Medical expenses for treating fractures are costly. Bones require significant healing time, especially compound fractures. Broken bones cause temporary partial disability. When a car accident victim suffers multiple fractures they may have temporary total disability and sometimes permanent impacts to their mobility.
What Bones Commonly Break in Car Accidents?
The trauma and pain of broken bones have a significant impact on a victim’s physical well-being and financial circumstances. Emergency room bills, X-rays, assistive equipment, medical devices, and sometimes surgery all add up to cause financial hardship. Common bones that break during car accidents include the following:
- Tibia/fibula: the two bones in the lower legs
- Humerus: arm bones
- Wrists
- Femur: the bone in the upper legs
- Ribs
- Clavicle (collar bone)
- Hips
- Pelvis
Hip and pelvic fractures require lengthy healing time and significantly impact quality of life, especially in elderly car accident victims.
How Can a Car Accident Lawyer From Wells Trumbull Help?
When a car accident happens through no fault of your own but due to another driver’s negligence or a negligent road maintenance or road planning agency, you shouldn’t be left responsible for consequences such as medical expenses, lost wages, and disability—the “damages” in a car accident claim. Under Washington’s fault-based insurance laws, car accident victims in Washington have a right to compensation for their damages from the at-fault party’s insurance company. Call the experienced Everett personal injury lawyers at Wells Trumbull for the compassionate injury attorneys who protect the best interests of injured clients.