Legs meet crashes at the point of intrusion — footwells collapse, dashboards advance — and the resulting injuries write themselves into how you move for years. The claim’s job is to price the moving-for-years part, not the cast.
The Medical Picture
- The injury set: femur and tibia fractures (often rod and hardware territory), knee ligament tears, ankle fractures, and crush injuries — MedlinePlus covers the orthopedics.
- The recovery reality: weight-bearing restrictions, months of therapy, hardware decisions, and the post-traumatic arthritis horizon.
- Process guide: our companion post on the leg-injury lawsuit process walks the claim itself.
What It Means for Your Claim
Mobility is measurable — document gait, stairs, standing tolerance, and work accommodation. Leg claims mature slowly (hardware, arthritis risk), which makes them the classic don’t-settle-early case; our fracture practice handles the arc.
Frequently Asked Questions
The insurer says my condition is degenerative, not from the crash. Case over?
No — Pennsylvania law compensates aggravation of pre-existing conditions. Most adults show some degeneration on imaging; the legal question is what the crash changed, proven by before-and-after function and medical opinion.
I’ll need the hardware removed eventually. Claim it now or later?
Now — future surgeries get valued in the settlement or lost forever. Medical opinions projecting removal make it claimable today.
Does this injury count as ‘serious’ under my limited tort policy?
It depends on impairment of function, not the diagnosis label — a fought-over standard worth professional analysis, never an adjuster’s checkbox. Our limited tort explainer covers the stakes.
Dealing with this injury after a crash someone else caused? Call (215) 464-4600 or contact us online — free, confidential consultations, contingency-fee representation.