By Danielle Graves. Last Updated 29th June 2023. This illustrative example shows how it could be possible for compensation payouts for a broken femur in a motorcycle accident to reach £150,000. If you have suffered a broken leg in a motorcycle accident, you may find the information we have provided below useful. We have collated information on broken femur compensation amounts as well as taking you through how these injuries could occur. We’ll explain what broken femur symptoms you could experience and how a broken femur bone could affect your income, and your life in general. We’ll also give you some information on how you could go about claiming compensation for a broken femur in a motorcycle accident, and offer guidance on how to the services of a personal injury solicitor to help you with your claim. If you have any questions while reading this guide, then we’d be delighted to hear from you. You can speak to our team any time on 0161 696 9685. However, we’d advise you to take a look at the information below before calling, as we could have provided the information you need within the sections below.
Jump To A Section
- Breaks And Fractures Caused By Motorcycle Accidents
- Anatomy Of Upper Leg And Femur
- Common Causes Of Motorcycle Accidents
- Top Injuries Caused By Motorcycle Accidents
- Case Study: £150,000 Compensation Payout For A Broken Femur Motorcycle Accident And Other Injuries
- Broken Femur And Other Motorcycle Accident Injury Claims Calculator
- No Win No Fee Broken Femur Motorcycle Accident Claims
- How Do I Make A Serious Motorcycle Accident Claim?
- Start Your Claim With Legal Helpline
- References And Resources
Breaks And Fractures Caused By Motorcycle Accidents
According to ROSPA, in the UK, in 2016, 19,297 motorcyclists suffered injuries in road accidents. 319 of these were fatal and 5,553 led to serious injuries. If an accident that was not your fault caused you to suffer a broken femur in a motorcycle accident, and someone could be held liable for your injuries, you may be able to make a personal injury claim for compensation. You would need to prove that someone else caused the accident and that your injuries were as a result of that accident. You would also need to claim within the personal injury claims time limit for such claims. This is usually 3 years from the motorcycle accident date, but there could be some exceptions to this limitation period.
Broken femur injury
Before we take a look at an illustration of how compensation for a broken femur in a motorcycle accident could reach £150,000 and above, we may first need to understand the injury a little more.
The femur is a bone in your thigh. If you suffer a fracture to the femur, this could cause a number of symptoms, such as:
- Pain – broken femur pain could be felt in the thigh, but may spread down the leg
- Disability – You may not be able to put weight on the injured leg. You may not be able to move the knee or hip either.
- Wounds – If the fractured femur pierces the skin, it would cause an open wound
- Swelling – There could be swelling to the affected leg
- Bruising – The affected leg could also be bruised
Is A Broken Femur Serious?
A broken femur could be considered a serious injury. This is because it could take months for it to heal properly, which may mean you are unable to walk for some time. It could take between 3-6 months for a broken femur in a motorcycle accident to heal completely, even if there are no other injuries sustained.
Can You Walk On A Broken Leg?
Because the femur is one of the most important bones within the leg, you would not be able to walk on a broken femur. Usually, surgery would be required to fix the break. While you are waiting for surgery, your leg may be held in traction, or in a splint. If you have received other injuries in a serious motorcycle accident, surgical treatment may be delayed while other more pressing injuries are dealt with, and your medical condition stabilises. However, surgery is usually completed within 24-48 hours after diagnosis.
The effects that a broken femur could have on your life could be quite significant. Even with injuries that heal well after treatment, you would still be unable to walk properly for some time. This could affect your income, as you may be unable to work, and it could affect your ability to take part in any regular sporting activities. If broken femur complications occur, then this could lead to a poorer prognosis, and your ability to walk or your gait could be affected long-term.
Anatomy Of Upper Leg And Femur
The upper leg, or thigh, runs from the hip to the knee. It contains:
The femur – The longest bone within the human body. This could account for around a quarter of a person’s height.
The hamstrings – These are 3 muscles that run down the back of your thigh, called the biceps femoris, the semitendinosus, and the semimembranosus
The Quadriceps – These are the 4 muscles that can be found at the front of your thigh, called the rectus femoris, the vastus intermedius, the vastus medialis, and the vastus lateralis.
The Adductors – There are 5 of these and they can be found on the inside of the thigh. They are named the adductor magnus, the adductor longus, the adductor brevis, the obturator externus and the gracilis.
These muscles could all be damaged in a motorcycle accident broken femur injury, which could affect your mobility as well as the fracture itself.
Common Causes Of Motorcycle Accidents
According to ROSPA, who collect motorcycle statistics for the UK, motorcycle accidents could be caused by a number of factors, including:
Failure to negotiate a bend – These could be caused by a rider taking the left-hand bend at too wide an angle and striking an oncoming vehicle, losing control on a right-handed bend and colliding with a stationary object, and where another vehicle cuts the bend and collides with a motorcyclist or loses control of their vehicle.
Collisions at junctions – according to ROSPA, the majority of these happened at T-junctions, with the most common relating to incidents where a vehicle turned right, and crossed into the path of a motorcyclist from the right of the rider. Shunts were also deemed to be a common cause of this type of accident.
Overtaking collisions – these could be either the fault of the motorcyclist or another road user, depending on whether the manoeuvre was performed poorly by the motorcyclist or not.
Loss of control – These accounted for around 20% of incidents.
Other causes included speed, and riding or driving under the influence of alcohol.
Whatever the reason you’ve suffered a broken femur in a motorcycle accident, if it was another road user’s fault, then you could look into claiming compensation.
Top Injuries Caused By Motorcycle Accidents
The types of injury that could be caused by a motorcycle accident could vary significantly. However, there are some injuries that could be considered more common than others.
These could include:
Head injuries – Despite the use of helmets, head injuries are still considered to be common in motorcycle accidents. These could lead to brain damage in some cases.
Road Rash – If a motorcyclist skids across the pavement or road in an accident, they could sustain road rash, which is more serious than a simple graze. Proper treatment to avoid infection is critical with these injuries.
Damage to Muscles – Damage to muscles anywhere in the body could be sustained as a result of a motorbike accident.
Bikers arm – Usually when a rider comes off their bike, they would try and put their arms out to break their fall. This could lead to broken bones, nerve damage and more…
Leg Injury – These could include broken femur and hip injuries, as well as broken tibia, ligament damage and knee injuries.
Case Study: £150,000 Compensation Payout For A Broken Femur Motorcycle Accident And Other Injuries
Here, we show how much compensation for a broken femur in a motorcycle accident could be appropriate in an example of a case where a motorcyclist was injured on to road due to the fault of another driver.
The claimant, who in this case we shall refer to as Ms B, was travelling home after a weekend away on her motorcycle. She was hit by a car that swerved into her path and was knocked off her motorcycle. The claimant suffered several fractures to the left femur and multiple injuries, as well as road rash which became infected and required antibiotic treatment. She was left with extensive scarring and the femur injuries required various treatments to try and repair the damage. Ms B is still unable to walk for more than a few minutes, with the leg left deformed. This had an effect on her working life, her social life and her mental health.
Ms B engaged the services of a personal injury lawyer to fight for broken femur compensation payouts from the other road user’s insurance company. The claims were eventually settled after some argument at £150,000 for Ms B’s injuries, her loss of earnings, and costs associated with the accident.
Broken Femur And Other Motorcycle Accident Injury Claims Calculator
If you’re wondering how much compensation for a broken femur in a motorcycle accident could be appropriate for your specific claim, the information below could be of interest. Instead of placing a broken femur compensation calculator on this page, we have chosen instead to include a table showing specific injuries that could be sustained in a motorcycle crash. Broken leg injuries could range from simple to severe, and this could affect broken femur compensation amounts significantly. This alternative to a personal injury claims calculator takes information from the Judicial College Guidelines for specific leg injuries so that you can see what bracket could be appropriate for your injuries. Please do remember, however, that all amounts are approximate, and do not include the special damages you could also claim. Fractured femur compensation payouts could also include compensation for losses of earnings, as well as travel/medical costs and more.
| Type of Injury | Explanation | Compensation Bracket |
|---|---|---|
| Serious leg injuries short of amputation | These stop just short of amputation. Serious deglovings, shortening of the leg, and grafting surgeries may lead to injuries being put into this bracket. | £96,250 to £135,920 |
| Very serious leg injuries | Those injuries that lead to permanent mobility problems which require a mobility aid of some sort for the remainder of the claimant’s life. There may be deformity and further surgery may be required. | £54,830 to £87,890 |
| Serious leg injuries | Comminuted fractures as well as joint/ligament injuries that lead to a long period of non-weight bearing. Scarring could be extensive and there would be a high risk of arthritis. | £39,200 to £54,830 |
| Moderate leg injuries | Severe crush injuries and complicated/multiple fractures could be included here – the effect on ability to work, degenerate changes and amount of treatment needed could be involved in reaching a compensation figure | £27,760 to £39,200 |
| Less serious leg injuries | Serious injuries to soft tissues and fractures with incomplete recoveries | £17,960 to £27,760 |
Compensation For A Broken Leg – Special Damages
In addition to general damages, your settlement may include special damages. This compensates for the financial losses caused by your broken femur.
Examples of losses you could be compensated for under special damages include:
- Your loss of earnings for time spent off work recovering. This could include your pension contributions.
- Medical expenses, such as the costs of prescriptions and physical therapy.
- Travel costs, including taxi fares to attend medical appointments.
- The cost of accommodation adaptations, such as a wheelchair ramp and railings.
In order to claim special damages, you should save evidence of your expenses, such as receipts and invoices.
For a free valuation of your potential compensation for a broken leg, including what you could claim under special damages, please get in touch with one of our advisors.
No Win No Fee Broken Femur Motorcycle Accident Claims
If you’re making a broken femur motorcycle accident claim, you may prefer to do so with the help of an experienced lawyer. But, were you aware that you could make a claim without having to pay a lawyer until your compensation settlement came through? With no win no fee claims, you would sign an agreement to pay the lawyer at the end of your claim. You would sign a Conditional Fee Agreement to this effect before you claim began, which would detail the percentage of your payout that the lawyer would take if your claim successfully resulted in a payout. The lawyer would not be able to request more than 25% of your total settlement, and this would only be payable when your claim paid out. If the lawyer didn’t get you any compensation, but your claim was valid, then you wouldn’t have to pay the success fee.
How Do I Make A Serious Motorcycle Accident Claim?
Before you make a motorcycle accident broken femur claim, you could get advice and support on your options from Legal Helpline. We could assess your case over the phone for free and could give you advice tailored to your specific situation. If we think you could have a valid claim, we could help connect you with an experienced personal injury lawyer who could help with your claim. With years of experience assisting claimants with a variety of different personal injury claims and a fantastic track record in customer service, we truly believe we could take the stress out of beginning a personal injury claim for a broken femur. Why not call us to see how we could help you?
Start Your Claim With Legal Helpline
We’ve made it easy to get in touch with our experienced and knowledgeable advisors. You could call us on 0161 696 9685 or, if you prefer, fill in the contact form with your enquiry and we will aim to get back to you with an answer quickly. We’re looking forward to hearing from you and helping with your claim.
References And Resources
Motorcycle Accident Claims – Our guide covers these types of claims in more depth. If you’ve been injured in a motorcycle accident, this guide could be useful to you.
Ankle Injury Claims – Information about claims for ankle injuries could be found in this guide.
Foot Injury Claims – If you suffered a foot injury, then you may find the information in our foot injury guide useful.
Trusted External Resources
NHS Broken Leg Information – Here, you can find information on broken leg injuries from the NHS.
Road Accident Statistics – The GOV statistics on motorcycle accidents can be found here.
ROSPA – ROSPA research on motorcycle accidents can be found through this link.
Case Study by Jo