Everyone needs to drive Richmond’s streets, but any commute comes with inherent risks from distracted drivers, drunk drivers, drowsy drivers, and drivers engaged in other negligent behaviors. Unfortunately, chances are high that you will eventually experience a collision of some sort during your lifetime. In anything worse than a minor fender bender, broken bones are some of the most common wounds in personal injury cases involving car collisions.
Bone Fractures in Virginia Car Crashes
The amount of force generated in a car crash frequently causes serious injuries for passengers and drivers, whether you are in a rollover, a T-bone collision, a head-on crash, or any other kind of accident. You could experience a wide range of broken bones in these collisions, including:
- Arm
- Ankle
- Collarbone
- Femur
- Feet and toes
- Hand, wrist, and fingers
- Hip
- Knee, which is often also associated with soft tissue injuries in ligaments and joints
- Leg
- Pelvis
- Ribs
- Skull fractures, which may also include a traumatic brain injury
- Spinal cord in the back or neck
- Sternum
The severity of these bone injuries and how they impact your life is determined by a number of factors. Age can play a large role. Both young victims whose bones are still growing and elderly victims suffering from a loss of bone mass tend to experience more severe repercussions from broken bones. Additionally, which specific type of fracture you suffer will affect your recovery. For example:
- Comminuted fractures require a large amount of force, such as a vehicle collision, to break a bone into three or more pieces.
- Displaced fractures occur when a bone snaps and the two sides no longer line up properly.
- Open fractures (also called compound) take place when the bone is visible by breaking through the skin.
- Transverse fractures are frequently caused by car accidents and involve the bone breaking into two parts at a right angle due to a sudden impact.
Recovering Damages From Broken Bone Injuries in a Vehicle Collision
Broken bones after a car accident may result in lengthy recovery times, limited mobility, chronic pain, difficulty with everyday tasks, and an inability to return to work. When you add regular monthly bills on top of those problems, it becomes clear that you need to exercise your legal right to recover damages from the negligent driver. Under Virginia law, you can potentially receive compensation for:
- Both past and future medical costs, such as surgeries, therapies, and time spent in the hospital.
- Lost wages for days you couldn’t work while recovering, as well as other possible economic damages if your injury requires changes to your employment.
- Non-economic damages that don’t have a specific dollar amount attached for issues like pain and suffering, emotional distress, and PTSD after the accident.
- Your out-of-pocket costs that aren’t covered by medical insurance while seeking treatment for the injury.
In order to recover damages at all, you need to determine who is at fault and then provide evidence to show the at-fault party’s negligent behavior caused your injury. Even when it seems like the at-fault driver is obvious, recovering damages for car crashes can become complicated. Every case is different and includes unique challenges, whether you were in an accident caused by an uninsured driver, a collision with multiple vehicles, a crash caused by a drowsy trucker with logbook violations, or in an accident with a government-owned vehicle like a bus or garbage truck.
Contact Our Car Accident Lawyer in Richmond, VA Today
From insurance carriers looking for you to admit fault so they can deny your claim to instances where someone else besides the driver may be responsible for the accident, there are a variety of pitfalls that can prevent you from receiving the compensation you deserve. To protect your legal rights, you need an experienced personal injury attorney to help you through the recovery process. Contact us today to find out if The Mottley Law Firm is the right fit for your case.
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