At Davidoff Law Personal Injury Lawyers, our Queens car accident clavicle fracture attorney team fights for victims with broken collarbones after crashes. Nearly 15% of all fractures from motor vehicle accidents in Queens involve the clavicle. These severe injuries happen fast but can affect your daily activities for months or years.
A broken collarbone makes basic tasks hard. Driving, working, lifting, or sleeping become painful challenges. You need an experienced attorney who knows about these injuries. Our personal injury law firm has a strong track record of successful settlements for clients with clavicle fractures, and we'll help you get fair compensation, too.
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Our Queens Car Accident Clavicle Fracture Attorney Fights for Your Rights
Our legal team handles many clavicle fracture cases each year with impressive results. Insurance providers often try to minimize these injuries, offering low settlements that don't cover your true costs. We build strong personal injury claims backed by medical experts who clearly explain how these injuries affect your ability to work and your quality of life.
We work with top medical professionals throughout Queens who help build strong personal injury claims. These doctors explain how clavicle injuries affect not just the bone but also soft tissue injuries and shoulder joint movement and can cause chronic pain. Their expert input often helps us win maximum compensation during settlement negotiations.
Collarbone fractures need special legal guidance because they look "simple" but cause complex problems. Insurance companies often pay too little, thinking bone fractures heal quickly with no issues. The truth is many accident victims face:
- Months of medical care
- Permanent bumps where the bone healed
- Ongoing shoulder injuries
- Possible arthritis years later
As your personal injury attorneys, we make sure your settlement agreement covers all these effects.
When auto accidents cause clavicle fractures, we study exactly how your injury happened to build the strongest claim against the fault driver. This helps us explain your case clearly during the legal process.
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How Car Accidents Cause Clavicle Fractures
Your collarbone is an easy target in car crashes. It's one of the most common injuries because of where it sits in your body. We've helped clients with fractures from many types of accidents - rear-end collisions, T-bone accidents, and even pedestrian accidents. Each crash creates different forces on your body, causing different types of injuries. Our experienced car accident lawyers work with experts to link the crash directly to your specific injury.
Seatbelt-Related Injuries
Seatbelts save lives but can break collarbones. The diagonal strap crosses right over your clavicle. During sudden stops at traffic signals, it puts over 2,000 pounds of pressure on this small bone. We often see seatbelt injury cases in head-on crashes when your body moves forward, but the seatbelt holds your chest back.
Airbag Trauma
Airbags deploy at speeds up to 200 mph. This force can break your clavicle on impact. While airbags prevent worse injuries like traumatic brain injuries or spinal cord injuries, the sudden blast can damage your chest and shoulder area. Shorter drivers or passengers who sit close to the steering wheel face higher risks from direct airbag impact.
Side-Impact Mechanisms
When another vehicle hits your car from the side, the door can crush inward and strike your shoulder. These side forces push your shoulder toward the center of your body, snapping the clavicle. We also see breaks when victims are thrown sideways into doors. These side-impact accidents often cause complex fracture patterns needing arthroscopic surgery.
Types of Clavicle Fractures
Not all collarbone breaks are the same. The severity of injuries affects your recovery times, treatment, and case value. Our Queens accident attorneys know how to document each type of fracture for maximum compensation.
Midshaft Fractures
About 80% of all collarbone breaks happen in the middle section. This area has less support and takes the most force in crashes. Midshaft fractures usually heal in 6-12 weeks but often leave visible injuries. Many clients still have pain when carrying heavy items or when the weather changes.
Distal End Fractures
Breaks near the shoulder joint cause special problems. This outer part of the clavicle connects to your scapula fracture (shoulder blade) and helps your arm bone move. These fractures often damage the joint and need surgery more often. Recovery takes 8-12 weeks plus longer physical therapy to restore full movement and enjoyment of life.
Comminuted Fractures
Severe crashes can cause comminuted fractures or compound fractures, where the bone breaks into three or more pieces. These complex injuries almost always need surgery with plates and screws. Recovery takes longer (12-16 weeks) and might require multiple-scope surgeries. These serious fractures often cause permanent limits and deserve additional compensation.
Proving Your Claim
Building a strong clavicle fracture case needs good medical records and expert help. Insurance companies try to downplay these injuries. Our legal team gathers critical evidence that shows the full impact on your life, now and in the future.
Diagnostic Imaging
X-rays are key relevant evidence, showing the break location and how badly the bone is displaced. We often get follow-up images to document healing problems. For complex cases, we may use CT scans that show 3D details of bone fragments and possible rotator cuff tears. These detailed pictures help when negotiating with insurance claims adjusters.
Expert Testimony
Bone specialists provide vital testimony about how your clavicle fracture limits your daily life. They explain how the injury affects your work ability, self-care, and normal activities. They also warn about future problems like shoulder arthritis, limited motion, or lasting neck injuries. This expert input helps during legal proceedings to understand all types of damages you've suffered.
Compensation Available
After a clavicle fracture from a Queens automobile accident, you deserve payment for all your losses - not just medical bills. Our accident attorneys fight for compensation for pain and all financial costs. We calculate current expenses plus future earnings losses to make sure your settlement covers everything.
Surgical Costs
Surgery for clavicle fractures costs $20,000-$50,000, including hospital stays and doctor fees. Many patients need a second surgery to remove metal hardware, adding another $8,000-$15,000 in medical costs. Insurance policies often ignore these future expenses, but we include them in your personal injury lawsuit.
Lost Wages
Clavicle fractures hit workers hard, especially those with physical workplace accidents. Construction workers, commercial drivers, nurses, and others who lift things may miss months of work. We document all lost income, including overtime and bonuses. For self-employed clients, we calculate business losses during your recovery time frame.
Pain/Suffering
The physical pain and emotional distress from a broken collarbone deserve non-economic damages, too. Many clients can't sleep on their injured side for months. The constant aching affects everything from driving to getting dressed. We also address the permanent bump that often forms, causing ongoing discomfort and appearance concerns.
Queens-Specific Considerations
Car accident cases in Queens have unique aspects that affect your claim. Our local experience helps us know how Queens courts handle these cases. We provide personalized attention to every detail of your accident injury claim.
Jury Understanding
Queens juries need to understand how your accident caused your injury. We use visual aids showing how crash forces transferred from the negligent actions of the liable party to your collarbone. Recent Queens clavicle fracture verdicts range from $75,000 to $450,000 depending on severity and lasting effects.
No-Fault Threshold
New York's no-fault insurance requirements create a "serious injury" threshold to sue beyond basic benefits. Most clavicle fractures qualify automatically. We also document when you couldn't perform normal activities for at least 90 of the 180 days after your accident due to your injuries. This helps ensure you can seek compensation for loss under the comparative negligence rule.
Dealing With Insurers
Insurance companies have set tactics for handling clavicle fracture claims, starting with low offers. Our skilled attorney team knows these strategies and how to counter them. We handle all communication with insurers so you can focus on healing during this challenging time.
Countering Lowball Offers
Insurers often call clavicle fractures "minor accidents" and offer quick, small settlements. We counter this by showing your daily struggles through medical records, accident reports, and even skid marks from the scene. Our team presents evidence of all treatment costs, lost work, and bodily injury impacts to secure a substantial settlement.
Long-Term Impacts
We emphasize that up to 15% of clavicle fractures don't heal properly and need more surgery. Even normal healing often requires months of therapy to restore shoulder strength and prevent cervical spine injuries. We ensure your settlement covers these long-term needs and possible complications like SLAP tears or brachial plexus injuries that might appear later.
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Clavicle Fracture FAQs
What's the average settlement for a broken collarbone?
In Queens, settlements range from $50,000 to $200,000. Cases needing surgery often settle for $100,000 to $350,000. The amount depends on your treatment, recovery time, and if you can return to your job.
Can I claim if I didn't need surgery?
Yes! Non-surgical fractures still cause pain, missed work, and activity limits. We've won good settlements for clients with fractures that healed with just a sling. We focus on showing how the injury changed your daily life.
How do you prove pain from a healed fracture?
We use doctor statements, therapy records, and your pain journal. Many clients are still hurt at the fracture site even after X-rays show healing. We document these ongoing issues through follow-up doctor visits.
What if I was partly at fault?
New York uses comparative negligence rules, meaning you can still get money even if partly responsible. Your payment would be reduced by your fault percentage. We work to lower your assigned blame by investigating all crash details, including traffic sign violations by the negligent party.
Should I accept the first insurance offer?
Almost never. First offers are usually much less than what your claim is worth. We've seen insurance companies raise offers five times or more after we show full evidence of accident injuries.
How long do these cases take?
Most clavicle fracture cases settle within 6-12 months. We usually suggest waiting until your medical treatment is done before settling to ensure all future needs are covered under the statute of limitations.
Contact Our Queens Car Accident Clavicle Fracture Attorney for a Free Case Consultation
After a car accident with a clavicle fracture, quick action helps your case. Police reports, vehicle damage photos, and witness statements can prove who was at fault. Our dedicated team will start investigating right away while you focus on healing. The sooner you call, the more evidence we can gather for a favorable outcome.
Contact us today for a free consultation. We'll evaluate your potential outcomes and connect you with medical experts who understand clavicle injuries. Our personal injury lawyers work on a contingency fee agreement – you pay nothing unless we win your case. Let our experienced car accident attorneys fight for you while you concentrate on recovery.
