While broken bones are relatively common injuries, that doesn’t mean they aren’t severe and can’t have a long-term or permanent impact on your life. They often require extensive medical treatment, sometimes including surgery, and lengthy recovery periods that can disrupt your ability to work. And they can even lead to chronic pain and permanent loss of mobility even when treated correctly.
If you suffered a broken bone injury in an accident, contact Joshua E. Palmer Law Firm for a free consultation with an experienced personal injury lawyer. Depending on how your injury occurred, you may be entitled to compensation from the at-fault party. Our firm has recovered millions of dollars for injury victims just like you, and we’ll put our experience to work helping you seek the compensation you deserve.
Common Causes of Broken Bone Injuries in Georgia
A wide range of incidents, from car crashes to slip-and-fall accidents to domestic violence, can cause broken bone injuries. The circumstances of your injury will dictate who the liable party or parties are and the methods by which you can seek compensation, including insurance claims, workers’ compensation claims, and personal injury lawsuits.
Common causes of broken bone injuries are:
- Motor vehicle accidents, including car, truck, bus, and motorcycle accidents, often result in broken bones. The forces involved in these crashes are even powerful enough to break the femur, the strongest bone in the body.
- Slip-and-fall accidents frequently result in broken bones, often from victims attempting to stop their fall. Wrists, forearms, and collarbones are at particular risk, and broken hips are more common among older adults.
- Workplace accidents can cause many severe injuries, including broken bones. Depending on how the broken bone injury occurs, you may have a workers’ compensation case.
- Cyclists and pedestrians struck by cars can suffer various broken bones all throughout their bodies caused by the initial impact with the vehicle and the secondary impact with the pavement.
- Physical assaults, including domestic violence, may result in victims suffering broken bone injuries. Assailants can be held financially liable for the harm they cause.
Types of Bone Fractures Resulting in Personal Injury Lawsuits
Depending on how your injury occurred, you could suffer from multiple types of bone fractures. The type of fracture you have will impact your medical treatment, which can directly affect your expenses. The most common types of fractures include:
- Simple Fractures – These injuries happen when the bone breaks but stays in place and doesn’t penetrate the skin.
- Compound Fractures – These injuries occur when the bone breaks and penetrates the skin, leading to more extensive treatment and a heightened risk of infection.
- Comminuted Fractures – These injuries happen when the bone breaks into multiple pieces, often requiring surgery to remove bone fragments that could cause long-term pain.
- Greenstick Fractures – These injuries result when the bone bends without breaking entirely. They are more common in children, as their bones have more plasticity.
- Stress Fractures – These injuries are caused by repetitive stress or force and appear as small cracks in the bone that worsen over time if left untreated. They can be the result of a work-related repetitive stress injury.
Compensation Available for Broken Bone Injuries
Victims of broken bone injuries can seek economic and non-economic damages through personal injury lawsuits and insurance claims.
Economic damages are the compensation you seek for your tangible financial losses, including medical expenses, lost wages, loss of future earning potential, and more. Non-economic damages are the compensation you seek for your intangible losses, including the pain and suffering you experienced, the emotional distress you continue to experience, and the impact your injuries have on your daily life.
To make the most of your lawsuit or insurance claim, it’s essential that you work with a skilled attorney who can accurately assess the value of your injuries and their future impact on your life.
The Role of Comparative Negligence
Georgia uses a modified comparative negligence rule, outlined in Georgia Code Section 51-12-33, that may impact your case if you are partially at fault for the incident that caused your broken bone injury. Under comparative negligence, an injured party’s compensation may be reduced by a percentage equal to their degree of fault, as determined by a jury. And if the injured party’s degree of fault is 50 percent or more, the court will bar them from recovering any compensation.
While this statute specifically applies to lawsuits and the awards victims can receive from juries, it’s also used when calculating insurance payouts and negotiated settlements. If an insurance company estimates you are 30 percent at fault, it probably won’t offer you more than 70 percent of your total compensable losses.
Georgia’s Statute of Limitations
Under Georgia Code Section 9-3-33, victims of broken bone injuries have two years from the date they were injured to file lawsuits or insurance claims against the at-fault parties. Under most circumstances, failing to file your lawsuit or claim within this period will result in you being barred from recovering compensation for your injuries.
Do You Need a Lawyer for a Broken Bone Injury Case?
The best way to protect your right to seek compensation after breaking a bone in an accident is to work with an experienced lawyer. Your lawyer will investigate the incident to identify the liable parties and gather supporting evidence, calculate the value of your injuries, file your lawsuit or insurance claim, negotiate with insurance companies on your behalf, and represent you in court. And while your lawyer does all that, you can focus on recovering from your injury.
Contact a Georgia Broken Bone Lawyer
If someone else’s actions caused your broken bone injury, contact Joshua E. Palmer Law Firm for a free consultation with an experienced Georgia personal injury lawyer. During your consultation, we’ll review the details of the accident that caused your injury, explain your options for seeking compensation, such as an insurance claim or injury lawsuit, and answer any remaining questions you have about the process.
