Broken Bones and Fractures in Florida Truck Accidents

Why Truck Crash Fractures Are Different

A broken bone sounds like a defined injury with a defined recovery. That framing suits insurers, and it is often wrong in truck cases, because the forces involved produce fractures at the severe end of the spectrum.

Where a car-to-car impact might produce a simple fracture — a clean break in one place — truck collisions produce comminuted fractures, where the bone shatters into several fragments; compound or open fractures, where bone breaks the skin and infection risk rises sharply; and crush fractures, where sustained compression damages bone, muscle, nerve, and blood supply together.

The distinction matters legally as well as medically. A simple fracture may heal in weeks with no lasting deficit. A comminuted fracture requiring surgical fixation may leave permanent hardware, restricted range of motion, chronic pain, and arthritis that develops years later.

Fractures Seen Most Often in Truck Crashes

• Pelvis and hip — associated with side impact and crush mechanisms; among the most serious, with long recovery and lasting mobility effects
• Femur — the strongest bone in the body, requiring extreme force to break
• Ribs and sternum — painful, slow to heal, and associated with underlying lung and organ injury
• Spine — vertebral fractures that may or may not involve the spinal cord
• Skull and facial bones — often accompanied by brain injury
• Wrist, forearm, and clavicle — from bracing against impact
• Tibia and fibula — common in wide-turn and crush injuries, and in pedestrian and cyclist collisions
• Ankle and foot — from footwell intrusion, and frequently underestimated in their long-term effect on mobility

Treatment, Hardware, and Complications

Severe fractures are typically treated with open reduction and internal fixation — surgically realigning the bone and securing it with plates, rods, screws, or pins. Much of that hardware stays permanently.

The complications that follow are what insurers tend to leave out of an early valuation:

• Nonunion and malunion — bone that fails to heal, or heals in the wrong position, requiring further surgery
• Post-traumatic arthritis — where a fracture involved a joint surface, arthritis frequently develops years later
• Hardware failure or irritation — requiring revision surgery, sometimes long after the original injury
• Infection — particularly with open fractures, and occasionally chronic
• Compartment syndrome — a surgical emergency where pressure cuts off blood supply, associated with crush injuries
• Nerve and vascular damage — producing numbness, weakness, or chronic pain independent of the bone itself
• Chronic regional pain — persisting long after imaging shows the fracture as healed

Published By

Shiner Law Group, P.A.

Founded by David I. Shiner, Esq. · AV Preeminent® rated · Florida Bar member since 2002

Shiner Law Group was founded by David I. Shiner, Esq., a Nova Southeastern University law graduate, a member of The Florida Bar since 2002, and AV Preeminent® rated by Martindale-Hubbell. The firm represents injured people across Florida from offices in Boca Raton, West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale, Fort Pierce, Orlando, Wellington, and Belle Glade, and handles truck accident cases on contingency: free consultations, and no fee unless there is a recovery.

The firm works to keep this information current and consistent. Spotted something wrong? Email joseph@shinerlawgroup.com and we will fix it. About this site →

Florida Rules That Apply to a Fracture Claim

Two Florida rules shape these claims in particular:

Because the permanence question is frequently the whole dispute, the treating surgeon’s opinion on long-term prognosis — range of motion, hardware retention, arthritis risk, and likelihood of revision surgery — matters more than the initial operative report.

What to Do After a Fracture

1. Begin treatment within 14 days to preserve Florida PIP benefits.
2. Attend every follow-up. Orthopaedic claims are frequently defended on treatment gaps.
3. Complete the full course of physical therapy, and have limitations documented if progress stalls.
4. Ask your surgeon about long-term prognosis explicitly — hardware retention, arthritis risk, likely revision — and ensure the answers enter the record.
5. Document functional loss, not just pain: what you can no longer lift, carry, climb, or do at work.
6. Photograph surgical scars as they heal; permanent significant scarring is independently relevant under Florida law.
7. Do not settle while the outcome is still uncertain, particularly where a joint surface was involved.
8. Decline recorded statements to the carrier’s insurer.

See What to Do After a Truck Accident for the full post-crash sequence.

Fracture Injury FAQ