If you talk to someone who owns a motorcycle, they can go on for days about why they love riding their motorcycle and all the positives it brings to their lives.
However, safety isn’t one of those benefits.
Motorcycles are less stable than cars and require tremendous balance to operate safely. They are also less visible to everyone else on the road.
In a crash, motorcyclists lack the protection of an enclosed vehicle, making accidents very dangerous.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, motorcycle riders are 26 times more likely to die in a traffic collision than passenger vehicle occupants.
They are also five times more likely to be injured.
Motorcyclist crashes accounted for 14 percent of all traffic fatalities, with a fatality rate of 23.41 per 100 million vehicle miles traveled, compared to 0.90 for passenger cars.
And if you are in a motorcycle accident and you do survive, there are several common injuries you are likely to endure.
We will discuss some of those common motorcycle injuries in the article below.
Curious about what causes motorcycle accidents? Read our blog post, “The Main Causes of Motorcycle Accidents.”
Road Rash
Road rash, an injury that occurs when the pavement comes into contact with the skin, is unique to motorcyclists because there’s nothing between them and the road.
Sometimes, an accident may cause motorcycle riders to be thrown off their bike, causing them to slide across the roadway.
Hopefully, they were wearing some form of protective gear, but often there is little to protect the body from road rash.
Concrete can scrape away the skin which will end up resembling burns. Severe cases often require skin grafts to repair.
Another issue with road rash is that debris can lodge itself in the body when the skin is scraped away.
If it isn’t treated properly, this can result in a severe infection.
Brain Injuries
Fortunately, many motorcyclists wear helmets while riding their bikes.
This helps keep some injuries from becoming deaths.
Helmets may also keep head injuries from becoming traumatic brain injuries.
However, just because you wear a helmet doesn’t mean you are safe from severe brain injuries.
If your head comes into contact with the pavement, possible injuries range from lacerations to concussions to something much worse.
Brain injuries often have life-long consequences, such as impacting the ability to speak, walk, or other vital functions in daily life.
Brain injuries often result in the need for extensive rehabilitation and expensive long-term healthcare costs.
Injuries to the head and neck make up nearly 25% of all injuries that result from motorcycle accidents.
Leg Injuries
A motorcyclist is more likely to injure their legs or feet than any other part of their body in an accident.
After studying over a million motorcycle injuries, the CDC found that nearly 30 percent of motorcycle injuries occurred to the lower extremities.
When you ride a motorcycle, your legs are closest to the ground, and they are usually the first thing to come into contact with the pavement if you’re in an accident.
Not to mention, if your bike rolls over, it is likely to fall on top of your legs.
This increases your chances of a fracture. The fibula and tibia are at the most significant risk of being broken or fractured in a motorcycle crash.
You may also suffer ligament damage based on how your legs bend when you fall.
The other significant risk to your legs is lacerations from your bike contacting your leg, or from road rash.
Spinal Cord Injuries
If you survive a motorcycle crash, spinal cord injuries may be the most severe injury possible.
If your head hits the pavement, you might suffer a traumatic brain injury, but you could also suffer a spinal cord injury.
Helmets will protect your head, but unfortunately, do not protect much against spinal cord injury because there is still an impact on the neck.
Helmets may actually shift some of the risks from the head to your spinal cord.
Spinal cord injuries often result in paraplegia or quadriplegia, which can be temporary or permanent.
Spinal cord injuries almost always involve significant long-term costs, both in terms of healthcare and lost wages.
Thorax Injuries
Thorax injuries are very common, as about one in every seven motorcycle injuries is an injury to the thorax.
Your thorax is the chest area and can be the sternum or the ribs.
These injuries can be serious because your ribs can puncture other parts of the body, like the lungs, nearby.
Other injuries can also result in the chest area, including collapsed and punctured lungs.
Other complications can arise due to these injuries, including pneumonia and infections.
What Should You Do Following a Motorcycle Accident Injury?
There isn’t a one-size-fits-all answer to what to do after motorcycle crashes.
After motorcycle crashes, most of the actions will be dependent on your injuries and how severe they are.
If your injury is minor, allowing your body to heal with some time off your bike may be enough.
If you have a severe injury, you will need to seek immediate medical attention and closely follow the doctor’s orders to ensure you make a full recovery.
Other things to do after a motorcycle accident injury not related to your injury are:
- Getting a police report.
- Take pictures of the accident.
- Get insurance and contact information from the involved parties.
- Contact your insurance company as soon as possible to report the accident, even if you didn’t cause the accident.
- Do your best to stay calm. Your adrenaline will be running high at the time of the accident. Take deep breaths. Motorcycles and property can be replaced, but you can’t.
Legal Help for Motorcycle Injury Victims
Motorcycle accidents are common, and if someone else’s negligence caused your motorcycle accident injuries, you need a personal injury lawyer to help you pursue the maximum compensation you deserve.
The Angell Law Firm is a professional and established firm with a friendly and welcoming staff.
The Angell Law Firm also offers a free consultation with no obligation to prospective clients so they can determine how to obtain the best possible results in your case.
Bryce is considered a highly esteemed trial lawyer and a passionate client advocate amongst his peers in the Atlanta legal community. Never afraid to go the extra mile for his clients, Bryce Angell works tirelessly to ensure that each client’s personal injury case gets the attention that it deserves.