A vertebral fracture is a broken bone in the spine, and car accidents are a leading cause of these injuries. Oklahoma law lets injured people recover medical costs, lost income, and pain and suffering from an at-fault driver, reduced by your own share of fault under 23 O.S. § 14, and barred only if your fault is greater than the at-fault driver’s under 23 O.S. § 13.
What Is a Vertebral Fracture?
A fractured spine means a break in one or more of the 33 vertebrae that make up the spinal column. Doctors call a single bone a vertebra; vertebrae is the plural. Trauma, most often car accidents, falls, and sports injuries, causes most fractures in people who do not already have weakened bones from osteoporosis. According to the National Spinal Cord Injury Statistical Center, vehicle crashes have caused roughly 38.6 percent of spinal cord injuries in the United States since 2015. When a fracture damages the spinal cord itself, the injury may rise to the level of a permanent, life-altering spinal cord injury under Oklahoma law because of the long-term effect on someone’s ability to work and live independently.
Doctors classify fractures by where they occur along the spine (cervical in the neck, thoracic in the upper back, or lumbar in the lower back) and by how the bone broke. Mild compression fractures are small cracks in the front of the vertebra, and can shorten a person’s height over time if left untreated. A burst fracture is more severe, shattering the vertebra in multiple directions and sometimes sending bone fragments toward the spinal cord. Seat belts can also cause a “Chance” or flexion-distraction fracture in a hard frontal crash, and the most severe injuries, fracture-dislocations, involve both a broken vertebra and a shift out of normal alignment.
How Car Accidents Cause These Fractures
Crash forces routinely exceed what the spine can safely absorb. Sudden deceleration bends the spine forward or backward well beyond its normal range, and the same collision can add vertical compression, twisting, and whiplash-style extension on top of that bending. The roughly 2,800-pound average weight of a passenger vehicle is enough to generate forces that fracture bone even in a moderate-speed impact. Head-on collisions, T-bone crashes at intersections, and rollovers on rural roads outside Oklahoma City are especially likely to produce a vertebral fracture, though rear-end collisions can cause one too. Many people with a fractured vertebra also have other back injuries from the same crash, and some develop chest injuries from the same crash where a seat belt or airbag absorbed part of the impact.
Symptoms and When to Get Emergency Care
Sharp back pain that worsens with movement, tenderness over the injured area, tingling or numbness, and a new stooped posture are common signs of a spinal fracture. Adrenaline can mask these symptoms right after a crash, so it is worth having a doctor check you out even if the pain feels manageable at first. Seek emergency care right away for numbness or paralysis in the limbs, loss of bladder or bowel control, severe unrelenting pain, or trouble breathing. Any of these can signal that the fracture is pressing on the spinal cord. Anyone with a pre-existing back condition, such as scoliosis, should be especially cautious, since a crash can worsen an existing curvature in ways that are not always obvious right away.
Treatment, Recovery, and What It Means for Your Claim
Most spinal fractures heal without surgery, through bracing, physical therapy, and pain management over roughly two to three months. More severe breaks, especially burst fractures or ones that threaten the spinal cord, may require vertebroplasty, kyphoplasty, or spinal fusion, and those procedures carry longer recovery times and a real risk of complications years later; research on spinal fusion outcomes puts the added risk of degeneration in the next vertebra at roughly 2 to 3 percent per year. Oklahoma generally limits the medical bills a jury can consider to what was actually paid for your care rather than the amount originally billed under 12 O.S. § 3009.1, so complete and accurate billing and payment records matter directly to what your claim is worth. Understanding when you reach maximum medical improvement also affects timing, since a claim is usually harder to value accurately before your treatment plan is finished.
What Your Claim May Be Worth Under Oklahoma Law
Because Oklahoma follows a comparative fault rule, an insurance adjuster may try to shift some of the blame onto you to reduce what they pay. Your recovery is only barred if you are found more than 50 percent at fault; at exactly 50 percent fault, you still recover, just reduced by your own share. Oklahoma also caps most noneconomic damages, such as pain and suffering, at $500,000 for injuries on or after September 1, 2025, under 23 O.S. § 61.3, but that cap does not apply to a permanent and severe physical injury, including loss of use of a limb, substantial impairment of a major organ, or an injury that leaves you unable to independently care for yourself. Serious vertebral fractures involving spinal cord damage can fall within that exception. The cap also does not apply if the judge and jury find by clear and convincing evidence that the defendant showed reckless disregard for the rights of others, gross negligence, fraud, or intentional or malicious conduct. The statute excludes wrongful death actions and claims under the Governmental Tort Claims Act. Because it is a new statute that has not yet been tested in court, how it will apply to a spinal fracture claim is not settled.
You generally have two years from the date of the crash to file a lawsuit for a car accident injury in Oklahoma, under 12 O.S. § 95. Because vertebral fractures can take months to fully diagnose and heal, and because ongoing treatment or a later complication can change what your claim is worth, it is worth talking to a lawyer well before that deadline approaches.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I still recover damages if I had a pre-existing back condition?
Yes. Under Oklahoma’s eggshell plaintiff rule, the at-fault driver is responsible for how the crash worsened your condition, even if you already had a bad back. Insurance companies often argue that your pain comes entirely from a pre-existing issue, so medical records showing your condition before and after the wreck, along with expert testimony, are especially important in these claims.
What if the other driver did not have enough insurance?
Oklahoma has one of the highest rates of uninsured drivers in the country. If the at-fault driver has too little coverage, or none, your options when the other driver has no insurance may include your own uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage, so it is worth checking your policy early in your claim.
How soon should I talk to a lawyer about a spinal fracture claim?
As soon as you reasonably can. A vertebral fracture can take months to fully diagnose and treat, and early evidence, such as scene photos, witness statements, and initial medical imaging, is easiest to preserve right after the crash. Waiting also narrows your options as Oklahoma’s filing deadline approaches, so the team at Hasbrook & Hasbrook typically recommends reaching out before evidence and memories fade.
Talk to an Oklahoma City Car Accident Lawyer About Your Spinal Fracture
If you or someone in your family suffered a vertebral fracture in an Oklahoma City car crash, Hasbrook & Hasbrook can review your medical records, insurance coverage, and the facts of your crash as part of a car accident claim in Oklahoma City, at no cost. Fill out our form to start a free review of your spinal fracture claim. If your crash caused a different back or neck injury, see other car accident injuries that can require back surgery.
