Overall, motorcycles and motorcycle injuries appear to go hand in hand.
The Washington State Traffic Commission estimates that motorcycles comprise about 4 percent of registered vehicles in the state, but are responsible for 14 percent of the traffic fatalities in Washington State between 2013 and 2017.
The unfortunate thing is that many of the motorcycle injury horror stories you may hear can be prevented.
Here’s everything you need to know about the 5 most common types of motorcycle injury you should know about, so you can protect your Self, and your rights when riding the adventure highways of life.
1. Head Injuries Are Most Common Motorcycle Injury
The National Highway Safety Center for Statistics estimates that in 2016, 1,859 motorcyclists saved their lives by remembering to wear their motorcycle helmet. What happens after that remains to be seen, but head injuries are the most common motorcycle injury because many riders don’t bother with a helmet.
Most states have a Universal motorcycle helmet law, and Washington State certainly does as well. You are legally required to wear a helmet.
But some won’t, and will find themselves succumbing to head injury in an accident.
But the truth is that even with a helmet, in a severe accident, you are more susceptible to head injury than someone behind the bubble of a four-door vehicle of tin serving as a barrier between the world and their brain.
2. Road Rash
On all of the motorcycle forums online you are going to hear about road rash. Head injuries are traumatic and could impact you for the rest of your life.
But road rash can as well if not tended to and treated properly. To the average non-motorcycle rider in the world, road rash just sounds like a little scrap from the road.
It is not. Road rash for motorcycle riders is well beyond your average skinned knee. Not treated properly could lead you to further problems like infections, nerve damage, or permanent scarring.
3. Muscle Damage
There are a number of ways to sustain muscle damage when using a motorcycle. You could sustain muscle damage from repetitive use of certain muscles can lead to damage or injury if you ride your motorcycle a lot.
But your muscles are also exposed during an accident, and you could sustain muscle damage in a collision as well. If you are pinned under something or fall a certain way, you may sustain muscle damage.
Some cases of muscle damage can be treated, and have full limitation to the area in question restored in time. But other muscle damage could create lifelong problems if not treated or rehabilitated properly.
Use these 4 simple tips for avoiding motorcycle accidents and prevent this from happening to you.
4. Biker’s Arm
Biker’s arm is not the tension you might feel in your handlebar arm if you’ve been on the road too long. Although this can be a muscle damage situation if you don’t take care of yourself.
The official form of Biker’s Arm refers to the condition of the arm after it has been used to break a fall. As humans, we are inclined by instinct to put our arms over our heads when we are about to fall.
Motorcyclists do the same thing and will sustain a number of injuries such as broken bones or torn ligaments by doing this in a motorcycle accident.
You can also sustain permanent nerve damage in your arm if this happens when you are on your motorcycle. This damage may not appear for a long time, and you may not know the extent of your injuries for well after an accident.
5. Broken Legs
After you work to protect your brain and your upper limbs when motorcycle riding, you want to consider extra protection for your legs as well. After head injury and arm injuries, broken legs or leg injury are among the next most common type of motorcycle injury sustained in a motorcycle accident.
This makes common sense, considering the legs aren’t protected in the same way as they might be for a car driver. But car drivers can still get their legs injured just as well.
Hard lands on your feet or legs can snap bones in a second, and you can also bleed out if you sustain an injury close to a major vein or artery. At the same time, you could become disabled and never be able to ride your bike again after one leg injury.
Protective gear ahead of time may also help mitigate any damages such as this.
Protect Your Self, and Your Rights
The first thing that is going to fall when you are in a motorcycle accident is your head and your arms. That’s just how the aerodynamics of any fall works.
Your head is the most serious organ you try to preserve, so your arms automatically go up to catch the fall.
This is why head injury, road rash, and limb problems are the most common form of a motorcycle injury. You don’t need to suffer alone.
If you or a loved one is suffering from motorcycle injury after a bad accident, you could be eligible for compensation for losses incurred after any of these injuries have been sustained.
Contact Maurer Law for free online today to ensure you know how to protect your Self and your rights after a motorcycle accident.