Nearly everyone who rides a motorcycle cites how fun it is and how it feels to ride around in the open air. There is no seatbelt, no doors or roofs boxing you in. It’s just you, your bike and the open road. Yet, riders face many dangers when other motorists do not pay attention to their driving. This negligence can lead to severe and specific types of injuries:
- Foot and leg: These are the most injured parts of the body in a motorcycle crash. Often it is the tibia, fibula or femur bones that are broken. While a broken bone is not likely fatal, the injuries can take months to heal, and the rider may never regain their full range of use.
- Head and neck: Helmet’s save lives, but crashes can involve severe brain injuries, whiplash or other injuries in this area that have serious and long-lasting implications.
- Spinal cord: This is usually devastating to the victim, with the potential for paralysis. Even when there isn’t paralysis, back injuries rarely fully heal.
- Road rash: Avid bicyclists will often proudly display road-rash scars. They lived to tell the tale because they likely were not traveling over 20-30 mph. Road rash on a motorcycle is a much larger ordeal.
- Biker’s arm: Riders will instinctively put out their hand when they go down. This injury can involve a sprain, nerve damage, or a broken bone.
Motorists don’t always see motorcycles
The small and maneuverable nature of motorcycles means that other drivers need to pay attention even when the biker observes all traffic laws. Those driving while distracted are much less likely to catch the biker out of the corner of their eye, often leading to tragic and severe consequences for the innocent victim.
