Curated News
By: NewsRamp Editorial Staff
November 02, 2026
Tennessee's New Bone-Break Law Reshapes Crash Injury Claims
TLDR
- Tennessee's new law lets injured people pursue uncapped punitive damages against impaired drivers who break bones, giving victims a stronger legal advantage.
- Public Chapter 875 classifies broken bones as serious bodily injury, extending the civil filing deadline to two years and allowing criminal evidence in civil claims.
- The law helps injured victims recover medical costs and hold impaired drivers accountable, making roads safer and justice more accessible for everyone.
- In Tennessee, an impaired driver who breaks a bone can now be charged with vehicular assault, and the civil claim may benefit from criminal evidence.
Impact - Why it Matters
This change matters because it gives crash victims in Tennessee a stronger legal foothold on two fronts at once. By classifying a broken bone as serious bodily injury in impaired-driving crashes, the law signals that these injuries are treated with greater seriousness in the criminal system, which can mean real accountability for the driver. But the practical payoff may be civil: an extended filing window gives injured people more time to act while they recover, the removal of the punitive damages cap creates a meaningful deterrent against impaired driving, and evidence gathered in the criminal case can strengthen a civil claim. For anyone hurt by an impaired driver, understanding that the criminal and civil tracks are separate, and that a plea deal does not erase the right to compensation, is essential to protecting their financial recovery.
Summary
Tennessee has broadened the scope of its vehicular assault law, and the change carries significant implications for crash victims well beyond the criminal courtroom. Since July 1, an impaired driver who causes a crash that breaks another person's bone can be charged with vehicular assault under Public Chapter 875, which adds broken bones to the definition of "serious bodily injury" in the state's vehicular assault statute. Previously, a broken bone qualified under the general definition only when the injured person was a child. The change was highlighted by the Tennessee Senate Republican Caucus and BillTrack50.
Nashville-based Patterson Bray PLLC notes that the new law can affect injured people far beyond the criminal case. The firm's personal injury lawyer in Nashville, TN can explain how a pending charge fits alongside a civil claim for medical bills, lost income, and pain and suffering. Under Tennessee personal injury laws, a criminal charge can extend the usual one-year filing deadline to two years when charges are brought within that first year, remove the cap on punitive damages when a driver's substantially impaired judgment caused the injury, and supply additional evidence such as blood test results and crash reconstruction reports. Managing partner Chris Patterson stressed that the criminal case and the injury claim run on separate tracks, and that no one in the criminal courtroom is working to get a victim's medical bills paid.
The firm also emphasizes that the two cases can reach different outcomes: a criminal case may end in a plea deal, dismissal, or acquittal while the injured person still pursues a civil claim, which requires only proof by a preponderance of the evidence. Someone who was partly at fault for the crash may still recover damages under Tennessee's comparative fault rules. Patterson Bray, with offices in Nashville and Memphis, represents injured people and families throughout Tennessee and Mississippi in car, truck, and motorcycle accidents, wrongful death, and medical malpractice cases, and offers free consultations that can be scheduled online.
Source Statement
This curated news summary relied on content distributed by 24-7 Press Release. Read the original source here, Tennessee's New Bone-Break Law Reshapes Crash Injury Claims
