Common Broken Wrist Injuries
If you, or a loved one, have suffered a fractured or broken wrist, you likely can relate to the pain that a bone fracture can cause. Throughout the medical community, a fractured wrist is a common occurrence. Therefore, it makes sense that there are many types of accidents that can cause someone to break their wrist.
Pedestrian Accidents are a Common Cause
Everyone understands that striking a pedestrian with a car or motorcycle can lead to significant traumatic injuries. If a pedestrian is struck by a motor vehicle, more than likely they are going to fall to the ground. When people fall, they reflexively extend their hands in front of their body to cushion the blow. This is a conditioned response to protect the vital organs in the chest and abdomen from receiving a forceful impact. Unfortunately, this places the arms and wrist at risk. Most people will fall with the arms extended and their palms flat. This means that the wrists receive the brunt of the impact, leading to a broken wrist in pedestrian injuries.
Wrist Fractures in Auto Accidents
A car accident is a significant risk any time someone gets behind the wheel of a motor vehicle. In fact, being behind the wheel of a car is a risk factor for suffering a broken wrist in an auto accident. If someone driving a car rear-ends another vehicle or strikes a stationary object in a head-on collision, most of the force of the accident is transferred through the front of the car towards the driver, including the steering wheel. Because most people drive with both hands on the wheel with their arms and wrists extended, this means that a significant amount of the force of the accident is transmitted through the wrists, leading to a fracture.
Motorcycle Accidents Can Cause Multiple Bone Fractures
Driving a motorcycle places the body at tremendous risk because, unlike a car, there isn’t anything separating the driver from the pavement. If someone is involved in a motorcycle accident, the motorcycle usually falls to one side or the other because the driver loses balance. Motorcycle riders are trained to cushion their fall to the ground by extending their arm. While extending their arm will break their fall, it also creates a similar mechanism of injury to that of pedestrian accidents. Because of this, motorcycle riders are at risk of breaking their wrist.
Sacramento Personal Injury Attorney
I’m Ed Smith, a Sacramento Personal Injury Attorney. Wrist fractures are a common injury throughout the medical community, particularly in accidents and collisions. If you or a loved one has suffered a wrist fracture, contact my office at (916) 921-6400 for friendly, free advice. For people calling from outside of the greater Sacramento region, I have a toll-free line available at (800) 404-5400.
I am a member of the California chapter of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum. We are a group that is made up of some of the top-rated trial lawyers in the country. All of us have won multiple million-dollar settlements for prior clients.
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Image Source: By Dyoder, via Wikimedia Commons Public Domain Images
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