The freedom of the open road comes with a cost that no rider wants to pay. One second you’re leaning into a curve with the wind in your face, and the next you’re sliding across asphalt while a car that didn’t stop for you disappears from view.
The physical pain is only the beginning of a long journey that can last for decades and cost millions of dollars for the thousands of motorcyclists who are seriously hurt in California every year.
Motorcycles make up only a small percentage of all registered vehicles in the US, but motorcycle riders make up a significant portion of all traffic deaths. There is a human story behind each number: surgeries, rehabilitation, lost wages, and lives that have been changed forever.
Victims and their families can make better choices about medical care, insurance negotiations, and legal claims if they know what injuries are most likely to happen in motorcycle crashes and how much they will cost over the course of a lifetime. The numbers are scary, but knowing what to do after a bad crash gives you power.
Traumatic Brain Injuries
Even if you wear a helmet, the forces in a motorcycle crash can still make your brain hit the inside of your skull, which can hurt you in ways that range from mild concussions to serious, permanent damage.
The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke says that diffuse axonal injury is one of the most common brain injuries that happen in car accidents. It happens when the brain’s white matter gets damaged all over the place and communication between nerve cells is disrupted when the car speeds up or slows down quickly.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says that the lifetime cost of traumatic brain injury can be more than $1 million for severe cases. This includes both direct medical costs and indirect costs like lost productivity.
Studies published in medical journals say that the cost of treatment over a person’s lifetime can range from $85,000 for less severe injuries to more than $3 million for severe trauma that needs ongoing care.
The effects of a traumatic brain injury can last a long time after the accident. People who have been hurt may have chronic headaches, trouble concentrating, memory problems, changes in their personality, depression, trouble sleeping, and trouble making decisions that last for years or even forever.
A lot of people can’t go back to their old jobs. Studies show that about 60% of people with traumatic brain injuries (TBI) are unemployed about two years after their injury, compared to the national average of about 5%.
All these numbers show why it’s so important to accurately figure out what your future medical needs will be when you’re trying to get money for motorcycle crash injuries.
Spinal Cord Injuries
Motorcycle crashes rank among the leading causes of spinal cord injuries in the United States. The National Spinal Cord Injury Statistical Center reports that vehicle accidents cause approximately 38% of new spinal cord injuries each year, with roughly 18,000 Americans suffering such injuries annually.
Paraplegia, which results from damage below the cervical region and affects the lower body, carries somewhat lower but still substantial costs. First-year expenses average approximately $500,000, with ongoing annual costs around $70,000. Lifetime medical expenses for a 25-year-old with paraplegia typically reach $2.3 million or more.
Spinal cord injuries permanently alter not just mobility but virtually every aspect of daily existence. Victims may require round-the-clock care, home modifications including wheelchair ramps and accessible bathrooms, specialized vehicles, and ongoing treatment for secondary conditions including pressure sores, respiratory complications, and urinary tract infections.
Employment data reveals that only 11.7% of spinal cord injury survivors hold jobs one year after their injury, and even at twenty years post-injury, the employment rate rises to just 35.2%.
Lower Extremity Injuries
According to research from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the legs and feet are the parts of the body that get hurt the most in motorcycle accidents.
One study found that 47% of all motorcycle accident injuries were to the lower extremities. These injuries can often be survived, but they often need a lot of treatment and can leave people permanently disabled.
The NHTSA study found that 95% of leg injuries in motorcycle crashes are fractures of the tibia and fibula. Most ankle injuries are broken malleolar bones, which are the bony projections on either side of the ankle. These make up 90% of all ankle injuries. Hip dislocations make up 37% of motorcycle hip injuries, and femur fractures in different places come next.
The costs of treating lower extremity injuries in hospitals go up quickly with the number and severity of the injuries. The data shows that motorcyclists who only hurt one leg or foot had hospital bills that averaged $21,000.
Victims with more than one lower extremity injury had average hospital bills of $39,000, while victims whose leg injuries were combined with trauma to other parts of the body had hospital bills of $56,000. These numbers only include the first emergency care.
They don’t include the months or years of follow-up care, physical therapy, and possible extra surgeries that serious orthopedic injuries often need.
Severe trauma to the lower extremities can lead to lasting restrictions. Some victims will have to have their limbs amputated, which means they will have to use prosthetics for the rest of their lives. These prosthetics will need to be replaced every so often and can cost tens of thousands of dollars each.
Others keep their limbs but have chronic pain, limited mobility, or can’t stand for long periods of time, which ends careers that depend on being able to move around.
Internal Organ Damage
Even if the injuries on the outside don’t look too bad, the blunt force trauma of a motorcycle crash can tear, bruise, or break internal organs. The spleen, liver, and kidneys are especially at risk because they are located in the abdomen.
Injuries to the spleen happen a lot because this organ is located just below the left rib cage, right in the path of forces that travel through the torso during a fall or side impact. If the spleen bursts, it can cause bleeding inside the body that could kill you.
In many cases, the organ needs to be surgically removed. People can live without a spleen, but it weakens the immune system and makes them more likely to get some infections for the rest of their lives.
The liver, which is the largest internal organ in the body, is important for digestion, blood clotting, and getting rid of toxins. Lacerations can cause serious bleeding inside the body that needs surgery right away. Kidney damage, which is especially common in crashes with side impacts, can permanently damage the filtering function and may eventually require dialysis or a transplant.
Sometimes people call internal injuries “hidden injuries” because the symptoms don’t show up right away after a crash. The body’s stress response can hide pain, and internal bleeding can happen slowly over the course of hours or days.
Road Rash and Soft Tissue Injuries
The word “road rash” doesn’t do justice to how bad abrasions are when a rider’s body slides across pavement. These wounds are similar to burns in that they can be just as debilitating in severe cases.
First-degree road rash only affects the skin’s surface, making it red and sore. It usually heals without any long-term problems. Second-degree injuries break through the outer layer of skin but leave the deeper layers of tissue alone. Third-degree road rash takes off all the skin layers, exposing fat and tissue underneath to germs. This needs to be treated right away by a doctor.
When someone has severe road rash, they often need skin graft surgery. This is when healthy skin is taken from another part of the person’s body and put on the damaged area.
This procedure costs a lot of money and hurts a lot because it requires taking tissue from a donor site that then has to heal on its own. Permanent scarring and disfigurement often happen even when grafting works.
Infection is a big worry with any road rash injury. When debris gets stuck in a wound, it can bring in bacteria. Also, the large surface area of an abrasion injury makes it very likely that bacteria will get in. Infections that get worse can spread quickly and may need longer courses of antibiotics or more surgery.
Severe soft tissue injuries can cause permanent nerve damage, chronic pain, and sensitivity that makes it hard to do everyday things for years after the wounds heal.
Broken Bones and Fractures
When thrown from their bikes, motorcyclists instinctively extend their arms to brace for impact, which leads to a lot of upper extremity fractures. The “motorcycle radius” injury is a common type of distal radius fracture that gets its name from how often it happens to people who have been in a crash.
There are different types of fractures. Some are simple breaks that heal with casting, while others are comminuted injuries where the bone breaks into many pieces and needs surgery to put back together with plates, screws, and pins. When broken bones break through the skin, they are called compound fractures. They have a higher risk of infection and usually need surgery right away.
In a lot of motorcycle accidents, the pelvis takes a lot of force. According to NHTSA data, pelvic fractures made up 18% of lower body injuries. These breaks are especially dangerous because they are close to major blood vessels and internal organs. Severe pelvic fractures can cause life-threatening bleeding and may mean a long stay in the hospital and a lot of time spent in rehab.
Riders often break their ribs when they hit the handlebars, fuel tanks, or pavement. Individual broken ribs hurt, but they usually heal on their own. Multiple fractures can make it hard to breathe, and ribs that are out of place can puncture lungs or cut internal organs.
The time it takes to heal a fracture depends a lot on where it is and how bad it is. Simple arm fractures can heal in six to eight weeks, but more complicated leg fractures that need surgery to fix can take six months or longer. Most of the time, victims can’t work, drive, or do many other daily tasks on their own while they are recovering.
Psychological Trauma
Physical wounds heal on a schedule, but mental wounds are often harder to measure and last longer. A lot of people who survive motorcycle crashes develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which can cause flashbacks, nightmares, extreme anxiety, and behaviors that keep them from doing things for years.
Many survivors can’t ride again, and some get anxious even when they’re in a car. The loss of riding, which for many people is more than just a way to get around, but also a part of who they are and what they love, makes the mental burden even heavier.
When someone has a serious injury and it takes a long time to heal or they become disabled, they often get depressed. Chronic pain, loss of independence, financial stress, and changes in life circumstances all make it easier for mental health problems to happen.
Therapy, medication, and support groups are all possible treatments for mental health issues that come up after a motorcycle crash. The American Psychological Association (APA) says that PTSD treatment can take years and cost thousands of dollars more than the cost of recovery.
California Law and Motorcycle Injury Claims
Under California law, people who are hurt or lose money in a motorcycle accident can sue the driver who caused the accident for all of their injuries and losses.
The state’s pure comparative negligence system lets the rider get money even if they are partly to blame, but the amount is less than what they would have gotten if they were fully to blame.
Most motorcycle accident claims have a two-year statute of limitations under California Code of Civil Procedure Section 335.1. This deadline starts on the day of the crash, so anyone thinking about suing should talk to a lawyer as soon as possible.
To accurately value a motorcycle injury claim, you need to know how much treatment costs now and how much medical care you will likely need in the future. Economists, life care planners, and medical professionals frequently furnish critical testimony regarding the enduring costs that catastrophic injuries will incur.
Insurance companies have a lot of money to lose if they pay out too much. Adjusters might try to get hurt riders to agree to quick settlements before they know how bad their injuries are. After signing a settlement, the victim usually can’t ask for more money, even if their costs are much higher than the settlement amount.
The Injury Firm Represents Motorcycle Accident Victims
The pain from a motorcycle crash will eventually go away or become easier to deal with. If you don’t take the right legal steps, the financial burden can last a lifetime.
The Injury Firm helps motorcyclists who have been hurt in Orange County, Los Angeles, San Diego, and Riverside counties.
We know that motorcycle injury claims need a lot of work to get the right amount of money for the long-term costs our clients will face. This includes a full investigation, an accurate assessment of the damage, and tough negotiations.
Call (949) 575-8875 for a free consultation if you or a loved one were hurt badly in a motorcycle accident that was the other driver’s fault. You don’t have to pay us anything unless we get you money.
The crash only lasted a few seconds. The effects can last a lifetime. You should have a lawyer who knows the difference.
DISCLAIMER:
This information is for educational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Past results do not guarantee future outcomes. For personalized legal guidance about your personal injury case, contact The Injury Firm for a free consultation.
