Car accidents can cause many types of accidents to drivers and passengers. Among the more serious types of injuries are maxillofacial injuries, or injuries to the skin and bones of the face. In Florida, car accident victims can recover damages for these types of injuries from the person or persons who caused the injuries.
Car Accidents Can Cause Serious Facial Injuries
More than 3 million facial injuries occur each year and a significant number of them are caused by motor vehicle accidents.
Facial injuries are a serious concern because of the number of important functions the face provides to human beings. First, the face provides for the sense of taste, sight, smell, and hearing. In addition, the face allows people to talk and eat. It is where the digestive system and the respiratory system start. Is also is central to the expression of human emotion and human identity.
Beyond the functionality of the face itself, facial injuries are of concern because more than 50 percent of patients who suffer facial injuries in a car accident also suffer trauma to at least one system in their body.
Types Of Facial Fractures
Facial fractures are classified by where they occur and by what facial bones or structures are affected. Generally, fractures to the face (or the maxillofacial region) can be divided into three areas:
Fractures to the upper face—including the frontal bone and frontal sinus;
Fractures to the midface—which has two parts:
– the upper midface, which is made up of the zygomatic arch, nasal bones, ethmoid bone, and the non-tooth-bearing part of the maxillary bond (this is where Le Fort II and Le Fort III fractures occur, as well as where fractures of the nasal bones, nasoethmoidal complex (NOE) zygomaticomaxillary complex (ZMC), and orbital floor fractures occur)
– the lower midface, which is made up of the maxillary alveolus, the teeth, and the palate (This is where Le Fort I fractures occur).
Fracture to the lower face—which includes the mandible.
The Type of Facial Fracture Can Provide Evidence Of Liability
The type of facial injury sustained can indicate who is responsible for an accident. For example, the question of whether someone was speeding often comes up in auto injury cases. The occurrence of a facial fracture and its location can indicate the speed at which the victim’s face impacted an object. This, in turn, can sometimes be used to help establish whether excessive speed was involved in a crash.
The existence of a facial fracture and its location can be a clue about the cause of the accident because the amount of force required to fracture facial bones varies from one region of the face to another. The nose and cheek bones (called the nasal bone and zygomatic arch) are fairly easy to break with a low-impact force. In contrast, it takes significantly force to break bones in the forehead region (the supraorbital rim), as well as the mouth and lower jaw region (the maxilla and mandible). So, if an accident victim breaks his or her lower jaw in a crash, the nature of the injury may help prove that greater force, and thus greater speed, was a factor in the crash.
If you have suffered facial injuries in an automobile or other accident, the attorneys at Fasig & Brooks are available to help you recover compensation for your injuries. Our attorneys and counselors represent clients throughout Florida and South Georgia, including clients in the Ft Walton Beach, Gretna, Havana, Jacksonville, Gadsden County, Miami, Panama City, Pensacola, Quincy, South Georgia, and Tallahassee. Please call us for a free consultation at (850) 222-3232. We are here to help.
