Broken Bones from a Queens Auto Accident: Threshold Issues Satisfied
BROKEN BONES FROM A QUEENS AUTO ACCIDENT: THRESHOLD ISSUES SATISFIED
| Mar 4, 2020 | Car Accidents, Car Accidents, Injuries, Motor Vehicle Accidents, Personal Injury |
WHY BROKEN BONES FROM A QUEENS AUTO ACCIDENT SATISFIES YOUR THRESHOLD REQUIREMENTS TO COMMENCE AN ACTION IN NEW YORK
One of the more painful personal injuries that a victim could sustain are broken bones from a Queens auto accident. Not only do broken bones cause instant pain, but they may take months to heal and could cause residual pain over many months if not years. Sometimes individuals feel pain from a broken bone years and years after the initial injury, and other people say they feel pain for their whole life–including due to arthritis. This is particularly true if a broken bone results in surgery which generally requires the use of painful hardware such as screws, rods, plates, pins, and other devices to stabilize the bone to allow it to heal. Sometimes a second surgery is required to remove this hardware, while other times the hardware stays with a person for life.
Here at COHEN & COHEN PERSONAL INJURY LAWYERS, P.C. , we understand how painful it can be for victims who suffered broken bones from a Queens auto accident. Our personal injury law firm is built around representing victims of serious or catastrophic personal injuries who have suffered due to the negligence of another person, business, or government entity. Victims and their families who have been seriously injured in any New York personal injury accident may have rights to compensation under the law. This includes compensation for pain and suffering, medical bills, lost wages, lost future earnings, loss of consortium, mobility assistant devices, future surgeries, and any other damages related to your personal injuries and car accident.
THRESHOLD ISSUES IN NEW YORK CAR ACCIDENTS
However, in order to collect compensation for your injuries under New York law you need to have sustained a “serious injury.” This is defined by the Legislature and is known as a “threshold issue” in any New York car accident case. This is because New York is a no-fault state which means that victims of a car accident will first turn to their own insurance for reimbursement of medical bills and lost wages no matter who was at fault for the car crash. But, if a victim’s injuries satisfy the serious injury threshold a victim may commence an action for compensation against the at-fault driver.
In order to satisfy a serious injury threshold, the victim of a New York car accident must have at least one of several enumerated “serious injuries” prescribed by the Legislature under Insurance Law section 5102.
DOES A BROKEN BONE SATISFY NEW YORK’S THRESHOLD?
Yes, a broken bone or fractured bone does satisfy New York’s serious injury definition. This means that broken bones from a Queens auto accident will entitle a victim to commence an action against an at fault driver. It does not matter if the broken bone was a pinky finger or a femur, any broken bone or fracture to a bone constitutes a serious injury under New York law. This is important because it allows a victim and his or her family to protect their rights when a careless, reckless, or negligent motorist causes injuries to an innocent person.
TYPES OF BROKEN BONES
Our Queens auto accident lawyers may handle any type of broken bone case resulting from any personal injury accident, especially a car accident, if the negligent driver caused serious or catastrophic personal injuries to a victim. There are several different types of broken bones which may be caused in an auto accident which include the following:
- Stable fracture – this is when the ends of the bone line up and are not out of place, sometimes referred to as a non-displaced fracture
- Compound fracture – this is an incredibly painful fracture which results when the bone is broken at such an angle and enforced outwards that it pierces through the muscle, tissue, and even through the skin causing obvious injury
- Comminuted fracture – when the bone fractures into many pieces, at least three or more pieces
- Compression fracture – this is when the bone is compressed or crushed together, which is most frequent in a vertebrae injury
- Transverse fracture – this broken bone presents as a horizontal fracture line across the face of the bone
- Oblique fracture – this broken bone presents as an angled fracture line across the face of the bone
- Spiral fracture – this unique type of broken bone presents as a corkscrew fracture along a bone and generally means that a person’s limb was twisted with great force meaning it likely got caught in the vehicle, and
- Other types of less-common fractures.
WHAT TO DO AFTER BROKEN BONES FROM A QUEENS AUTO ACCIDENT
Whenever you have been involved in the car accident and you may have suffered a personal injury, it is imperative that you notify the police for them to respond to the scene and create an accident report. You’ll want to ensure that you also exchange information with the other motorist, but the police should help you if you are seriously injured such as suffering from broken bones or a fractured bone.
Even if you are not sure that you are injured, it is important that you get medical treatment for several reasons. Most importantly, unless you are a medical professional, you are not trained to identify, diagnose, and assess injuries including to yourself. Some injuries may not manifest themselves right away meaning that it may take minutes, hours, or days for them to become fully apparent. Well this may not be a big deal with a sprain or strain, if the injury is a brain injury or spinal cord injury you could cause irreparable harm to yourself if you even wait those minutes. In terms of broken bones, failing to get immediate treatment could result in the bone not healing properly which means it may need to be re-broken to set properly or you may guarantee yourself at least surgery to fix it.
In addition, it is important to get medical treatment which will document your injuries and create a record of what happened. If you have a broken bone and failed to get immediate medical treatment, it is a common defense that you were not injured in auto accident or that you had a pre-existing injury and are now trying to blame the defendant. In addition, a defendant may argue that even if you did sustain broken bones from a Queens auto accident, it was not serious or painful enough because you did not seek immediate medical treatment. This may lower the amount of compensation you are entitled to.
AFTER QUEENS AUTO ACCIDENT, GET A QUEENS AUTO ACCIDENT LAW FIRM TO HELP YOU
Lastly, anytime you have been injured in a motor vehicle accident in Queens, Forest Hills, New York City, Long Island, or anywhere else in New York, make sure to retain an experienced car accident lawyer such as our car accident lawyers at Cohen & Cohen Law Group P.C. We accept cases on a contingency fee basis which means that you do not pay us until we recover compensation for you from a defendant or a defendant’s insurance company. This means that there is no risk to call us today and learn how we can start to protect your rights to compensation under New York law. Call us by dialing (718) 275-7779 for a FREE case evaluation or use our convenient and easy-to-use contact us box available here.
