Motorcycle
ACCIDENT ATTORNEYS

Common motorcycle injuries include:

• Arm and leg injuries
• Neck and back injuries
• Head injuries
• Road rash

Arm and Leg Injuries

With only your clothing to protect you in a crash, injuries to your arms and legs can include:

• Crush injuries
• Broken or fractured bones
• Severe cuts and lacerations
• Muscle and ligament damage

Neck and Back Injuries

Your spinal cord serves as the information highway between your brain and the rest of your body. If you receive a spinal cord injury in your motorcycle crash, you stand a very real chance of becoming paralyzed.

An injury to your lower back can result in paraplegia, i.e., the loss of voluntary movement and sensation in your legs and feet that requires you to use a wheelchair to get around. Your hips and pelvis could also be affected, causing you to lose control of your bladder, bowel and sexual functions.

An injury to your neck or upper back can result in quadriplegia, i.e., the loss of voluntary movement and sensation not only in your legs and feet, but also in your arms, hands and torso. Quadriplegia is an extremely serious condition requiring you to receive daily care because of your lack of ability to perform your daily functions, such as eating, bathing, dressing or even getting back and forth between your bed to your wheelchair. A high neck injury could require you to receive mechanical ventilation in order to breathe and thus remain alive.

Head Injuries

Motorcycle accidents are notorious for producing traumatic brain injuries, even if you wear an approved helmet. These injuries occur when your head forcefully impacts a stationary object, such as the pavement, a bridge abutment, a guardrail or any other hard object that your crash throws you against.

A TBI can disable you for life, making you unable to work due to one or more of the following:

• Vision impairment
• Hearing impairment
• Mobility and balance impairment
• Speech impairment
• Cognitive impairment
• Emotional control impairment

Road Rash

While road rash may not sound all that serious, it definitely can be in a high-speed motorcycle crash. Your pre-crash momentum keeps you going after your bike stops, and your resulting slide along the pavement or ground can easily shred your protective clothing, leaving your body unprotected. Your skin tears away from your underlying muscles, tendons and soft tissues. Such injuries often require reconstructive surgery and skin grafts to repair to the greatest extent possible and almost always leave disfiguring scars.

Regardless of its appeal, bike riding remains an inherently dangerous activity. The main reason is that the 8.6 million bike registrations in 2021 are far exceeded by the 276 million motor vehicle registrations in 2020. No one need tell you that many drivers engage in poor driving practices, such as the following, that can quickly turn your day from one of enjoyment to one of catastrophe:

• Driving too fast for weather or road conditions
• Driving while under the influence of drugs or alcohol
• Failing to yield the right-of-way to you when the law requires it
• Stopping in front of you without proper warning
• Tailgating you or cutting back into your lane too quickly after passing you
• Making improper or careless left turns in front of you
• Driving while using a cell phone or other distracting technology
• Opening a driver-side car door in front of you while parallel parked
• Failing to properly signal for stops or lane changes

Riding during inclement weather, such as during snow, ice or rain storms, also negatively impacts your safety, as do hazardous road conditions like the following:

• Pavement defects, including potholes, poorly repaired surfaces, uneven lanes, etc.
• Poorly marked lanes and shoulders
• Loose sand or gravel, particularly on curves
• Puddles hiding holes that can throw your bike off balance or black ice that can cause you to skid and lose control of your bike
• Narrow road shoulders, especially those with severe drop-offs
• Trees, shrubs or road signs that obstruct your view
• Poor evening and nighttime lighting
• Railroad tracks running across the road

As you might expect, the financial costs of a motorcycle accident can be almost as devastating as the injuries themselves. Your hospital and medical costs immediately skyrocket, at precisely the same time as you’re losing income because of your inability to work. Together, these can add up to hundreds of thousands of dollars in a very short time.

Even after you’re released from the hospital, you may well face continuing medical and medical-related costs for such things as:

• Rehabilitation
• Physical therapy
• Follow-up doctor appointments
• Prescription medication
• Medical equipment like crutches, a walker, a wheelchair, a prosthesis or a hospital bed
• Home modifications to make everything more accessible for you as you deal with your new lifestyle necessitated by your injuries

In addition, you likely will experience non economic costs that include such things as:

• Physical pain and suffering
• Mental and emotional grief, anguish and pain
• Loss of your ability to fully engage in your pre-accident lifestyle
• Loss of your desire to go out in public due to your disfiguring scars or need for a prosthesis or wheelchair
• Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), including depression, flashbacks, sleep disturbances, etc.
• Loss of your overall enjoyment of life

• https://www.iihs.org/api/datastoredocument/bibliography/2225
• https://www.ride.vision/blog/10-top-motorcycle-accident-causes/
• https://www.gardenstatepain.com/blog/5-most-common-motorcycle-injuries
• https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/spinal-cord-injury/symptoms-causes/syc-20377890
• https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/traumatic-brain-injury/symptoms-causes/syc-20378557
• https://www.verywellhealth.com/road-rash-treatment-1298921
• https://quotewizard.com/news/posts/dangerous-states-for-motorcycles
• https://www.statista.com/statistics/192998/registered-passenger-cars-in-the-united-states-since-1975/