Broken bones can occur for many different reasons. They may be the result of a car accident, truck accident, an accident on someone else’s property, a fall, an animal attack, a defective product, or another kind of accident. When you have suffered broken bones and someone else is at fault, you may be able to hold the responsible party liable for damages through a personal injury lawsuit. At DeFrancisco & Falgiatano, our experienced Syracuse personal injury attorneys may be able to help you assess your potential claims.
Broken BonesYou should go to the emergency room or see a doctor if you suspect you have a broken bone. A doctor can conduct a physical exam and look at the affected area for swelling, deformities under the surface, tenderness, or open wounds. Often X-rays can detect where there’s a break, how much of a break has occurred, and its impact on any nearby joints. Doctors can also use CT or MRI scans to get more detail on the break.
There are different kinds of broken bones. There are compound fractures, for example, which is when a broken bone travels through skin and can be seen on the surface of the body. This is a very serious injury and it necessitates immediate attention in case of infection. There are also closed fractures in which the skin stays intact over the broken bone. With complete fractures, the bone has broken into two or more pieces. With incomplete fractures, the bone may be cracked but hasn’t fully separated. With greenstick fractures, the bone cracks, but the crack doesn’t go clean through the bone. Displaced fractures are those in which pieces of the bone that was broken don’t line up, possibly requiring surgery.
LiabilityIf you suffer broken bones due to the fault of another and wish to seek damages, you will need to establish that person or entity’s liability. Often liability can be established by showing a person or entity’s ordinary negligence. To establish that negligence occurred, you would need to show: (1) the defendant owed you a duty of reasonable care, (2) breach of the duty of reasonable care, (3) causation, and (4) damages. The circumstances of your particular case will dictate what reasonable care would look like.
In a truck accident case, a truck driver may breach the duty to use reasonable care by failing to abide by regulations, failing to obey a traffic signal, speeding, tailgating, aggressive driving, taking turns too fast, overloading or improperly loading the truck, failing to conduct proper safety checks, or taking wide turns that result in a squeeze play accident. Other parties may also be responsible for a truck accident that results in broken bones, and a good personal injury attorney will look at all possibilities. Other potentially responsible parties can include the trucking company, the truck manufacturer, third party loaders, and property owners.
DamagesIf you can establish liability for broken bones in a personal injury lawsuit, you may be able to recover compensatory damages. Compensatory damages are not meant to punish the other party, but instead intended to put you back into the position you would have been in had there been no accident. These damages can include lost wages, medical bills, lost enjoyment of life, pain and suffering, and loss of consortium. The amount of damages you can recover will hinge on how severe the broken bones are. When, for example, there is a displaced fracture that requires surgery and its attendant costs and pain, the damages available to you may be more extensive.
Consult a Skilled Personal Injury Attorney in SyracuseIf you have suffered broken bones due to the fault of another in Syracuse, a seasoned trial lawyer can assess whether you have a viable injury claim. DeFrancisco & Falgiatano handles personal injury and medical malpractice lawsuits in Syracuse, Rochester, and across Upstate New York, including in areas such as Auburn, Ithaca, Canandaigua, Binghamton, Cooperstown, Elmira, Wampsville, Herkimer, Lyons, Utica, Oneida, Oswego, Watertown, and Lowville. Please call us at 833-200-2000 or contact us via our online form.