Common Motorcycle Accident Injuries

Experienced Nashville attorney who gets results

A wide variety of injuries can result from a motorcycle accident.

They can be anything from road rash to a broken thigh bone, internal bleeding and brain trauma. The Law Office of Eric Beasley has seen a lot in the more than 20 years we’ve spent fighting for motorcycle accident victims in Metro Nashville and Middle Tennessee.

The most common area on the body for a motorcycle accident injury to occur is the leg and foot region - nearly a third of all non-fatal motorcycle injuries are on the lower extremities. The next most common injury types are head and neck injuries like a broken neck, decreased eyesight, facial disfigurement or memory loss.

If you are the victim in a motorcycle accident, you may have sustained one or more of these injuries. Always see a medical professional following an accident. You need to be examined for internal and external injuries that may have been missed by emergency responders among all the chaos of the crash scene.

Injuries from motorcycle accidents

The following is a rundown of the 12 most common types of non-fatal motorcycle accident injuries. Our firm has won thousands of injury claims just like these. Attorney Eric Beasley has so much experience in the field of personal injury, he teaches other lawyers about it with professional development lectures and seminars.

Broken Bones - Arm, Thigh, Leg, etc.

Speed is a big factor in how severe a bone-break will be. The less speed at the time of impact, the less pressure on the bones. A broken bone can take a long time to heal, may require surgeries, physical therapy and may not set right the first time. It’s important to be compensated for these possibilities.

Road Rash

Just about every motorcycle accident involves road rash burn to some degree. When you get thrown off or dragged by your bike and skid along the road and your skin tears, that’s road rash. In severe cases, skin grafts are needed to repair the torn area.

Concussion, Traumatic Brain Injury, Head Injuries

Even if you were wearing a helmet at the time of the accident, you may have sustained a concussion or traumatic brain damage. (The severity of these injuries is reduced greatly when you wear a helmet.)

Concussion symptoms include headache, vomiting, dizziness and difficulty balancing, sensitivity to light and noise, confusion/memory loss/amnesia, loss of consciousness, slurred speech, blurred vision, ringing in the ears, irritability, problems sleeping, and can cause epilepsy.

Traumatic brain injury is an umbrella term for just about any degree of lost brain function.

Biker’s Arm

The term can be applied to all kinds of injuries to a biker’s arm, but, specifically, the condition occurs when a biker suffers nerve damage in his arm following a crash. The injury leads to pain, tingling and numbness in the arm.

Neck, Spinal Cord Injury

An injury to the neck or spine can permanently change how the victim of a motorcycle accident is able to function. This kind of damage can lead to an inability to move parts of his body (paralysis), memory loss or diminished brain function.

Twisted Elbow, Rolled Ankle, Broken Kneecap, Shattered Wrist, and Other Joint Injuries

Wrists and ankles are some of the joints most often damaged in a motorcycle accident.

Disfigurement

Some scarring is permanent but wearing a helmet with a full-face shield helps to reduce disfigurement.

Muscle or Soft Tissue Damage

It’s rare that a biker will tear a muscle in a crash, but it does happen. The severity of this type of injury often depends on how “hard” you were riding. The impact you get in a crash on a highway is much different than on a backroad.

Torn Ligaments

Ligaments are connective tissue that connect bones in the body. In a serious accident, ligaments can be torn away from the bone due to the impact of the crash. Torn ligaments in the ankle and knee are especially common and very painful. Other times, a ligament tear in the shoulder or wrist can occur due to a serious motorcycle crash.

Lacerations

Cuts to the skin often occur in motorcycle accidents, whether due to contact with the other vehicle or being scraped along the pavement. If these lacerations are deep, significant blood loss can occur and surgery may be necessary to repair the damage.

Dooring Injuries

Dooring is a term for when a driver or passenger opens the door of a parked car and hits a passing motorcyclist. Concussions from dooring and other serious head injuries are especially common. So are broken arms and other bone fractures.

Internal Injuries

In a crash, it is not uncommon for a rider to slam into the handlebars of his motorcycle, causing internal bruises, bleeding, punctures, etc. Internal injuries may be hard to identify at first, so it is important to see a medical professional as soon as you can after a crash.

If you or a loved one suffered one of these or any other injury as the result of being the victim in a motorcycle accident, you have rights. You do not have to accept the insurance company’s version of the accident or a small settlement.

If you’ve been hurt in a motorcycle accident in Nashville, get an experienced attorney on your side. Contact us to schedule a free consultation.