Knee Injuries From Dashboard Impact After a Crash
Car Accidents Often Leave Lasting Damage to Knees
A serious car accident can change your life in seconds. Many people immediately worry about head injuries or back pain after a crash, but knee injuries are incredibly common and often overlooked. One of the main causes is the force of your knees striking the dashboard during a collision.
Dashboard knee injuries can lead to months or even years of pain, reduced mobility, and expensive medical care. Worse, insurance companies frequently minimize the long-term impact of knee injuries, leaving victims without the compensation they truly need to recover. If your knees struck the dashboard in a crash anywhere in Georgia, knowing what signs to watch for and how the claims process works can protect your health and your financial future.
Why Knees Are So Vulnerable in Car Wrecks
The knee joint is complex. It depends on a careful balance of bones, ligaments, cartilage, and muscles to work properly. When your car stops suddenly in a collision, your body keeps moving forward due to momentum. Even if you are wearing a seatbelt, your lower body can slam into the dashboard. This sudden impact places enormous force on the knees.
Drivers and front-seat passengers are especially at risk. When feet are planted on the floor or pressing the pedals, the knees have nowhere to go in a frontal or side collision. This means the dashboard becomes the stopping point for all that force. Unlike seatbelts and airbags that protect the torso and head, there is little to protect the knees from direct trauma.
Common Types of Knee Injuries Caused by Dashboard Impact
Not all knee injuries are the same. Depending on the angle of impact and your body position, you could face damage to bones, ligaments, cartilage, or soft tissues. Here are some of the most common knee injuries that occur when the knee hits the dashboard:
1. Patellar Fractures
The patella, or kneecap, protects the knee joint. A hard strike against the dashboard can cause it to crack or shatter. Patellar fractures are serious because they affect your ability to straighten the leg and bear weight. Some fractures can heal with a brace, but many require surgery to repair or remove fragments.
2. Posterior Cruciate Ligament (PCL) Tears
This type of injury is sometimes called a "dashboard injury" because it is so frequently caused by knees hitting the dashboard. The PCL sits behind the knee and stabilizes the tibia (shinbone) from moving too far backward. A sudden backward force, like a knee driven into the dashboard, can stretch or tear this ligament. A torn PCL often leads to long-term instability in the knee.
3. Meniscus Tears
The meniscus is cartilage that cushions and stabilizes the knee joint. A dashboard impact can cause twisting or compression that tears this cartilage. Meniscus injuries often result in locking, catching, or popping sensations along with pain and swelling.
4. Dislocations
A powerful force may push the bones of the knee completely out of place. This can stretch or tear multiple ligaments at once and damage blood vessels or nerves around the joint. Knee dislocations are emergencies that often require surgery.
5. Contusions and Soft Tissue Injuries
Even if there is no fracture or ligament tear, the knee can suffer deep bruising and soft tissue damage. This may not sound serious, but severe contusions can take months to heal and sometimes mask more complicated injuries.
Symptoms of a Knee Injury After a Car Accident
Knee injuries do not always present immediate, intense pain. In many cases, adrenaline masks symptoms. Some people notice only mild soreness at first and try to walk it off, only to find days or weeks later that swelling, instability, or stiffness has set in.
See a doctor right away if you notice:
- Swelling around the knee that gets worse over the first 48 hours
- Bruising on or around the kneecap
- A feeling of the knee "giving way" when you walk
- Inability to fully straighten or bend the knee
- Clicking, popping, or catching sensations inside the joint
- Pain that does not improve with rest and elevation
Early medical care is key for knee injuries. It ensures you get the right imaging (like MRI or CT scans) to check for tears or fractures. Prompt diagnosis also creates strong documentation of your injuries, which is critical for any personal injury claim.
Why Insurance Companies Undervalue Knee Injuries
Even when there is clear evidence of knee trauma, insurance companies often try to downplay the severity. Adjusters might argue:
- Your injury was pre-existing from an old sports incident
- You can still walk, so your injury must not be serious
- Your medical treatment is excessive or unnecessary
- You could return to work sooner than your doctor says
Knee injuries are particularly vulnerable to this kind of pushback because many do not show dramatic visible symptoms like a cast or stitches. However, torn ligaments and cartilage injuries can be just as disruptive as broken bones. They often require arthroscopic surgery, months of physical therapy, and sometimes long-term activity restrictions.
Long-Term Costs of Knee Injuries From Car Crashes
If your knee was injured in a collision, you might be facing much more than an ER bill. Costs can include:
- Surgery to repair fractures or torn ligaments
- Physical therapy for 6 months or longer
- Lost wages during recovery or if your job involves standing or heavy lifting
- Future injections, bracing, or even total knee replacement if arthritis sets in
Chronic knee problems can also diminish your quality of life. You may no longer be able to run, kneel, or participate in sports or hobbies you once enjoyed. These impacts deserve to be accounted for in your settlement.
How Our Georgia Car Accident Lawyers Can Help
At the Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C., our Georgia car accident attorneys know how insurance companies work. Insurance companies have their own doctors, adjusters, and lawyers whose goal is to pay crash victims as little as possible. Our team builds strong cases to prove the full extent of your losses, including:
- Medical records showing the seriousness of your injury and expected future care
- Testimony from orthopedic surgeons and physical therapists
- Documentation of how your knee injury affects your work and personal life
- Evidence tying the crash directly to your knee condition, protecting you from claims of pre-existing issues
We also negotiate aggressively. If the insurance company refuses to offer a fair settlement, we are fully prepared to take your case to court.
What You Should Do If You Suspect a Knee Injury From a Crash
If you were in a car accident and your knees struck the dashboard, take these steps:
- Seek immediate medical attention, even if your pain seems manageable. Delays in care can hurt both your health and your claim.
- Follow all treatment instructions. Attend physical therapy sessions and follow restrictions on activity.
- Document your recovery with notes and photos. Keep records of how the injury limits your daily life.
- Avoid discussing your injury on social media, which insurers may monitor.
- Contact an experienced car accident attorney before speaking to the insurance company.
Talk to a Georgia Car Accident Lawyer Today
Knee injuries from dashboard impact are often more serious than they first appear. You may need medical care for months or years, and you should not be left paying for those costs out of pocket.
At Gary Martin Hays & Associates, we have decades of experience holding insurance companies accountable. Our goal is to secure full compensation so you can move forward without financial worry.
To see how we can help you, contact us today for a free consultation. We have offices across Georgia, including Atlanta, and will meet wherever is most convenient for you. You also pay nothing unless we win your case. Let us handle the legal fight while you focus on healing.
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