Belleville Bicycle Injury Attorneys

Types of Bicycle Accident Injuries

Accidents involving bicyclists often have more serious injuries than other types of accidents, such as car accidents, because passengers in cars have the car frame protecting them along with seat belts and airbags. Bicyclists, on the other hand, may have some padding, but their helmet is likely the only form of protection they have on roads and sidewalks.

Some of the most common injuries associated with bicycle accidents include:

• Head trauma – A head injury might include a concussion, neck injury, whiplash, and even traumatic brain injury, depending on the severity of the accident.
• Facial injuries – Bikers are likely to experience injuries to their cheeks, forehead, and nose because although they have head protection, moving at high speeds without facial protection and then suffering an accident leaves their face vulnerable to injuries. Bruises, cuts, and breaks—such as breaking the orbital bone or jawbone—are common among bicyclists who have accidents.
• Neurological damage – As with any accident, a bicycle accident jars the body that had been moving at high speeds and brings it to a near stop. When this occurs, the nervous system experiences a shock and the accident can cause long-term nerve damage such as tingling and numbness in multiple areas of the body.
• Spine injuries, including ruptured discs – Just about any type of accident someone can experience will impact the spine, and bike accidents are no different. Depending on if the rider fell, how they fell, and if they were hit by something during the accident, the damage to the spinal column and spinal cord can be minor or severe.
• Bone fractures – The impact of a bike accident can cause bone breaks all over the body, and if severe enough, an accident can cause multiple breaks.
• Wrongful death – Deaths following a bicycle accident have been on the rise. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), there were 840 bicyclists killed in traffic crashes in the United States in 2016. Because the use of bikes has gone up, more crashes and injuries are likely to have increased since that time period, which means fatalities are likely on the rise as well.