Traffic in Los Angeles can be frustrating. Motorists must deal with gridlock, and when things finally clear up, many drivers make up for the lost time by driving like maniacs.
Collisions are an everyday occurrence and, unfortunately, that often means some victims will be taking a trip to a Los Angeles emergency room. Motorists, pedestrians, and cyclists can suffer blows to the head, deep bruises, and sprains. In some cases, the chest absorbs a powerful blow and the collarbone (or clavicle) is fractured.
It’s a painful injury that could also occur in a slip-and-fall on a puddle on a store aisle. A cracked clavicle may heal on its own or could require surgery and metal plates to repair. With such a serious injury, it’s important to keep patients focused on healing while at-fault parties who cause these injuries worry about the costs of recovery.
Contact a Los Angeles Traumatic Injury Attorney for a Free Consultation
After suffering a collarbone injury in a car crash or any other personal injury accident, you may be left to wonder if you’ll have help paying for your medical care. A careless driver or a negligent business owner shouldn’t be given the chance to leave you with the consequences of their mistakes.
Contact Maison Law of California as soon after your accident as possible for a free case evaluation. It’s a no-risk way to learn about every benefit available to you and your family. You’ll also learn about the steps to take to secure the maximum compensation for your collarbone injury.
Collarbone Accident Dangers in Los Angeles
The clavicle is the slender, s-shaped bone that runs across the top of your chest below the neck. Two bones make up the collarbone. They extend sideways, left and right, from the breastbone and ribcage to connect to the shoulder blades.
A break in the clavicle is often very painful and greatly restricts movement in the arms and your ability to grasp objects. Collarbone breaks are very common in accidents. Researchers found that 1 in 20 adult fracture injuries involve the clavicle. Fractures occur in blunt force trauma accidents. This might happen on the football field or in a head-on collision on Ventura Boulevard.
In a vehicle crash, victims often break the collarbone when they strike the steering wheel or even in the force of impact with an airbag. Pedestrians, motorcyclists, and cyclists are commonly victims when they are thrown to the ground. If they flail their arms out in front of them to protect their heads and slow their falls, the collarbone often experiences enough force to break.
People also go to the emergency room after a trip-and-fall accident that sends them falling forward or in a fall down a stairwell in disrepair. They can throw their arms out to catch themselves, only to send impact force through their arms and to the shoulders and clavicle.
The Physical and Financial Costs of a Collarbone Injury
A reckless driver may send you into an accident. A property owner may neglect to clean up a slippery mess, leaving you to fall and suffer a chest injury. In each situation, the insurance providers for at-fault parties must be called upon to provide help so that you can heal without facing a financial crisis when hospital bills arrive. A Los Angeles Collarbone Injury Lawyer helps you determine every party that bears liability in your accident and fights to secure the most from your injury claim for you.
The money you earn in an insurance settlement is critical to your recovery, due to the size of the bills you’ll see after a hospital stay and physical therapy. A clavicle injury may take an adult several months to recover from. Non-surgical treatment for a broken collarbone could cost around $500, but the cost of X-rays and doctor fees would increase those charges to closer to $1,000.
Complications only increase the physical risks and the financial obligations patients will find themselves under. A clavicle fracture that pokes through the skin or has broken into several pieces will require surgical repair. A bone that doesn’t line up correctly to heal could require screws or metal plates for stability. A clavicle injury requiring surgery could cost families $15,000 or more.
How to Earn Fair Collarbone Injury Support from Insurance Companies
Patients will suffer many hardships after being the victims of personal injury accidents. They’ll face the costs of medical care and rehabilitation, ambulance fees, and other travel costs. They’ll lose out on valuable paychecks while unable to go to work.
Victims also suffer non-economic damages such as the physical pain they’ll have to endure for weeks or months. Pain from osteoarthritis is also a possibility down the road. The emotional trauma experienced by accident victims must also factor into a collarbone injury settlement check.
Unfortunately, you’ll be forced to seek financial support from often unhelpful insurance representatives. They can spend more resources on trying to prove they don’t owe you anything rather than providing support when you need it most.
These are just a few of the insurance strategies meant to keep you from getting the most out of your California personal injury claim:
- Delayed Response: When an insurance company knows their policyholder is fully liable for your collarbone injury, they will immediately hit the brakes. They keep you waiting on a response and a settlement offer. They want you to get more and more desperate as your bills accumulate. Your Los Angeles traumatic injury attorney can certainly put a stop to this shady practice and make sure your hardships are taken seriously.
- Low Settlement Offers: Once you are late on your car payments, and rent or mortgage, you can’t be blamed for feeling desperate. Insurance companies take advantage by extending a settlement check that’s far below what your recovery will cost. Your personal injury lawyer quickly recognizes these “lowball” settlement offers, rejects them, and immediately fights for more for you and your family.
- Point the Finger of Blame at You: It’s also a good time to rely on an experienced Los Angeles Lawyer when you are being unfairly blamed for your accident and a broken clavicle. When insurance companies want to avoid paying compensation, they’ll try to question your innocence in an accident. They’ll even look over your medical charts attempting to downplay your collarbone injury. They could resort to twisting your words in any recorded statement you’ve given them. It’s important to decline to give an insurance adjuster any statement when they ask for one. Direct them to your Los Angeles Collarbone Injury Lawyer.
- Refusing to Settle: Insurers may reject your injury case without cause, simply hoping you’ll give up your rights as a victim. If this unfair treatment continues, your lawyer represents the strong threat of a lawsuit. If they won’t provide a fair settlement, your lawyer will have a strong case ready to file a lawsuit and take the insurance provider to court. Insurance companies will often come back to the negotiating table and provide a substantial settlement check rather than spend the money to defend themselves in a trial.
Contact a Los Angeles Clavicle Accident Injury Lawyer
Martin Gasparian, the founder of Maison Law, offers a free case evaluation for all collarbone injury victims. It’s a no-risk way to find out what your injury is worth and how to make sure you get the most out of your collarbone injury insurance claim. Contact Mr. Gasparian to schedule a no-obligation consultation and talk to a real Los Angeles Traumatic Injury Lawyer today.
