12.15.20

What are Common Injuries in a Motorcycle Accident?

Motorcycle accidents are often some of the most horrific crashes on the road. Motorcyclists are extremely vulnerable to life-threatening injuries in accidents. These injuries could permanently affect or disable the rider. If you have been injured in a motorcycle accident in Kansas City, discuss your ability to recover compensation with a motorcycle accident lawyer.

Head, Skull and Brain Injuries

In Kansas, only riders under 18 years old must wear motorcycle helmets. In Missouri, all riders must use helmets, with an exception for motorcyclists 26 or older with medical insurance. Wearing a helmet is the number one way to prevent a severe traumatic brain injury (TBI). Many different types of TBIs can occur when a motorcyclist’s head strikes the road or a fixed object in a collision – with or without a helmet.

  • Concussion
  • Diffuse-axonal injury
  • Coup-contrecoup injury
  • Swelling or bleeding in the brain
  • Hemorrhage
  • Bruising
  • Contusion
  • Penetrating injury

The brain can sustain an injury from something puncturing the skull and injuring the brain, such as a piece of shrapnel. The brain can also sustain a closed-head injury. This occurs when blunt force trauma strikes the skull and rattles the brain, making it bounce around the inside of the skull. A serious brain injury could cause long-lasting symptoms ranging from headaches and dizziness to personality changes and cognitive disabilities.

Facial Injuries and Disfigurement

If the face strikes or scrapes the road in a motorcycle accident, the rider could suffer severe facial injuries and permanent scarring or disfigurement. Common facial injuries in a motorcycle wreck affect the mouth and teeth. A serious mouth injury could lead to a shattered jaw and missing teeth. Other common facial injuries can affect a rider’s eyes and eyesight. Permanently scarring facial injuries can impact a rider mentally and emotionally as well as physically.

Broken Bones

If enough force is exerted against a bone in a motorcycle accident, it will break. Broken bones can be painful injuries that temporarily or permanently debilitate the motorcyclist. Even a minor bone fracture could impact a rider enough to force him or her to take time away from work. Severe broken bones could affect a motorcyclist for life.

Broken bones can have major complications. If a broken rib punctures a lung, for example, the motorcyclist can suffer a collapsed lung. This injury could be fatal. A fractured bone in the spinal cord, on the other hand, could be enough to permanently paralyze the motorcyclist from the point of injury down.

Road Rash and Lacerations

Road rash describes a common motorcycle accident injury in which abrasion between the rider’s skin and the rough asphalt of the road cause serious cuts and scrapes. Road rash can occur on large parts of a motorcyclist’s body, such as a rider’s entire back. Road rash is painful and comes with a risk of infection. In serious cases, road rash can lead to traumatic tattooing. This is a permanent scarring pattern from embedded rocks and gravel in the victim’s wounds. Road rash can cause permanent scarring and disfigurement.

Spinal Cord Injuries

If the back, neck or spinal cord sustains an injury in a motorcycle wreck, the rider could end up with a permanent disability. The delicate bundle of nerves located in the spinal cord is responsible for feeling and function throughout the body. Severe damage to the spinal cord could interrupt this system, leading to irreversible paralysis in part of the body. Common examples are paraplegia (paralysis in the lower limbs) and quadriplegia (paralysis in all four limbs).

If you or a member of your family has serious injuries from a motorcycle accident in Kansas City, contact an attorney for a free case review. The party that caused the motorcycle accident may owe you compensation for your injuries and losses.

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