Common Injuries Caused by Motorcycle Accidents
- Fun. Until you get hurt.motorcycle image by Goran Bogicevic from Fotolia.com
The most common kind of motorcycle injury is a broken bone. It could be your arm, leg, or even skull or spine. Injuries to internal organs like your liver and kidneys also occur, as does brain damage, particularly to those who are not wearing helmets. - The most common injury from motorcycle accidents is also the least life-threatening---broken arms and legs. These happen because when the driver is thrown from a motorcycle, or has it fall on them, their arm or leg is the first part of their body to break their fall. When this happens at speed, the bone cannot withstand the amount of force applied to it and it fractures. A broken limb can be debilitating for weeks or months.
- Brain injuries, another common motorcycle injury, can easily be fatal, and if not, it can affect you for weeks, months or years. Permanent personality change and/or loss of motor control is also common. These serious injuries are the reason 46 states have passed laws requiring the use of helmets while riding motorcycles.
- According to motorcycle accident attorney Lee Arter, spinal injuries and internal organ damage make up less than 10 percent of motorcycle accident injuries. But, they can be the most debilitating. A spinal cord injury can paralyze you, and the extent of the paralysis depends on where the spinal column is damaged. Internal organ damage often requires immediate surgery and results in long recovery times.
