Common Motorcycle Accident Injuries

While motorcyclists can suffer injuries from a collision like spinal cord injuries and lacerations, the common injuries they often sustain are those to the head, neck, arms, and legs. There is one common injury, though, that can affect an expansive area: road rash. This injury is sustained from a rider usually flying off of his or her motorcycle in a collision and sliding across the pavement. When a motorcyclist is in the air and falling to the ground, it is instinct for anyone to use their arms to lessen the impact by covering themselves. Unfortunately, landing on one’s arm can result in permanent nerve damage to the arm, also known as Biker’s Arm.

Since motorcyclists do not have the protective cage of a standard passenger vehicle, such as a car or SUV, to mitigate the impact of a crash, collisions involving motorcyclists usually end up with the motorcycle riders sustaining serious, debilitating injuries like broken bones or paralysis. Motorcycle wreck victims are often rushed to the emergency room from the scene where they can undergo diagnostic testing and be evaluated by a physician. Sometimes, emergency surgery is required, especially for broken bones and head injuries. For motorcyclists with road rage or scarring, open wounds will need to be cleaned and closed via stitches or sutures. Unfortunately, scarring can be permanent in nature. Even if a future scar revision procedure is successful, evidence of the scarring may always be present.

Common motorcycle accident injuries and losses may entitle you to compensatory damages, but in order to recover economic damages for your monetary losses, such as lost wages and medical bills (past or future), and non-economic damages for your intangible losses deriving from the collision, including loss of enjoyment of life, loss of consortium, pain and suffering, and disfigurement, you will likely have to establish the negligence of the driver who crashed into you. This can be done by hiring an experienced motorcycle accident lawyer in the Memphis area to help you establish that the defendant owed you a duty of reasonable care, breached the duty that was owed to you, and caused you to suffer injuries as a result. Your lawyer can investigate all theories of recovery on your behalf and analyze the insurance coverage available to you.