Brain injuries are unfortunately common among motorcycle accident victims. Even if a rider is wearing a helmet, he or she is still relatively unprotected from an impact with a four-wheeled vehicle. If someone else’s negligence resulted in your brain injury or the death of your loved one, you might be owed compensation for your medical expenses, lost income, and out-of-pocket costs.
Common Causes of Brain Injuries From Motorcycle Crashes
The best way to prevent permanent brain damage is to seek emergency treatment, including diagnostic testing and scans, immediately after the accident. Never assume that you are “fine” after a collision, or even after a near-miss that forces you off the road. For example, a rider may have suffered a brain injury due to:
- Contact with the ground. A rider who strikes the ground while traveling at speed is at high risk of closed head injuries, as the force of impact with pavement can cause severe head and neck trauma.
- Contact with a stationary object. A rider may suffer skull fractures if he or she is thrown from the bike onto the hood of a vehicle or into a tree.
- Whiplash. The sudden forward and backward motion of a rear-end collision can cause shearing of the brain’s connective tissue, resulting in brain swelling that can be fatal if not treated quickly.
- Shaking or tearing of the brain inside the skull. Just because the skull appears intact does not mean the rider has not suffered a brain injury. Trauma to the head can cause the brain to slam into the front or back of the skull, resulting in a bruise or bleed inside the skull.
Riders should also be aware of the most common symptoms of brain injuries, and never attempt to “walk off” what may seem like a minor injury. Some head injuries are immediately apparent after a crash, but some may take hours or even days to show symptoms. Possible symptoms of a brain injury include:
- Dizziness, including vertigo, disorientation, nausea, vomiting, or a “falling” feeling
- Headaches that worsen with light or sound exposure
- Sensory disruptions such as ringing in the ears, hearing problems, vision disturbances, enlarged pupils, or strange smells
- Impaired body movements such as lost motor skills, poor coordination, weakness or numbness in the limbs, tremors, or convulsions
- Lost consciousness through blackouts, fainting, or seizures
- Slow reaction times, including slurred speech, lethargy, and long periods of rest or sleep
- Cognitive problems such as gaps in memory, difficulty concentrating, confusion, inability to recall simple information, or problems with reading or writing
- Personality changes such as irritability, poor judgment, depression, or anxiety
It Is Always Worth it To Speak to an Attorney After a Severe Head Injury
Brain injuries typically require long recovery times and expensive medical treatments, and most riders will not be able to work while their medical bills are piling up. While legal advice may seem like one more headache, victims only have a limited amount of time to pursue an injury claim—and evidence in the case is lost with each passing day.
The sooner you speak with an experienced motorcycle accident attorney, the more likely it is that you will receive fair compensation for your:
- Past, current, and future medical expenses
- Property damage
- Lost wages caused by the accident as well as the loss of future income up to the date of retirement
- Modifications to your home and in-home nursing care
- Out-of-pocket losses relating to the accident
- Physical and emotional suffering
If someone in your family has suffered a severe head injury, our attorneys can listen to the details of your case and discover who may be liable—and we do not collect anything from you until your case is won. Simply fill out the short contact form on this page or request a free copy of our book, The 10 Worst Mistakes You Can Make With Your Tennessee Injury Case.
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