Internal injuries from motorcycle accidents can be severe, even life-threatening. Medical intervention can be costly. Healing can take significant time. Our motorcycle accident lawyer knows these debilitating internal injuries deserve fair compensation.
Bobby Jones Law explains compensating internal injuries from a motorcycle accident.
Can You Get Compensation for Internal Injuries from a Motorcycle Accident?
Motorcycle accident internal injuries are physical harm that happens within the body. It is damage to the organs, bones, systems, or components that comprise the body. An internal injury may show outward signs like disfigurement or bruising. However, many internal injuries appear without visible indicators.
You can get compensation for internal injuries from a motorcycle accident. Whether or not internal injuries have visible signs, they are a type of serious harm that results from a motorcycle crash. You may receive compensation for the cost of medical treatment, pain, mental anguish, and other harms because of internal injuries.
Blunt Force Trauma and Deceleration Trauma in Motorcycle Accidents
Internal injuries in motorcycle accidents are usually the result of blunt force trauma and deceleration trauma.
- Blunt force trauma is harm that results from being struck by an object.
- Deceleration trauma occurs when a moving body abruptly comes to rest.
When moving, the body has kinetic energy. In a crash, this energy stops through deceleration.
The result is force against the body. Internal injuries can result from the body being struck or quickly brought to a stop.
Compensating Internal Injuries After a Motorcycle Accident
You have the right to be compensated for injuries following a motorcycle accident. Internal injuries may result in both economic and non-economic damages. They are economic to the extent that they result in medical bills, rehabilitation expenses, loss of income, and other monetary losses. When they cause physical impairment, disfigurement, mental anguish, inconvenience, pain, and suffering, internal injuries are non-economic damages.
Getting fairly compensated after a motorcycle accident requires identifying internal injuries. You must determine the prognosis and how injuries impact the victim economically and personally.
Future damages may be claimed. The finder of fact determines the amount of compensation, with the victim presenting evidence to prove their case. See Hicks v. Herring, 246 S.C. 429, 436, 144 S.E.2d 151, 154 (1965).
Types of Internal Injuries in a Motorcycle Collision
Many types of internal injuries may result from a motorcycle collision, including:
- Fractures, broken bones
- Dislocation
- Perforated, collapsed organs
- Collapsed lung
- Traumatic brain injury, concussion
- Muscle, tendon and ligament injuries
- Whiplash
- Severed spinal cord, fractured vertebrae
- Abrasions, skin tears, hemorrhages
- Respiratory, circulatory arrest
- Shock
Internal injuries vary in their nature and severity. Any internal injury resulting from a motorcycle crash may be compensated by law.
Understanding motorcycle internal injuries
Because motorcycles are different than passenger vehicles, motorcycle crash victims suffer a unique range of injuries and traumas. Motorcycle collisions are classified into four categories based on the type of impact:
- Lowside: Falling to the lower side of the motorcycle while turning may result in being trapped under the motorcycle and crushing injury.
- Highside: Falling to the outside when trying to correct from a turn, resulting in fractures, brain trauma, and other harm.
- Topside: Sudden deceleration, usually resulting in flying over the handlebars, causing brain trauma, skull and facial fractures, and neck trauma.
- Collision: Striking a stationary object or being struck while stationary, commonly producing concussion, whiplash, and bone fractures.
Internal motorcycle injuries should be evaluated immediately by emergency response and surgical teams.
Signs of Internal Injuries
One of the challenges of internal injury is that the victim may not immediately realize that they are injured. In the stress of a collision, injuries that are not visible may not be recognized.
Here are some signs of internal injuries following a motorcycle accident:
- Difficulty breathing
- Physical disfigurement
- Tenderness
- Bruising
- Confusion, disorientation
- Blood in urine
- Vomiting
- Cold, sweaty skin
- Pain in arms and shoulders
- Changes in vital signs (rapid pulse, low blood pressure)
- Unconsciousness
Another sign of an internal injury may be the nature of the crash. For example, if a person is trapped under a motorcycle or a vehicle, they may have crushing injuries. If a person strikes an object, like a road sign, they may brace their arm on the handlebar, resulting in injuries to the thumb. If a foot gets stuck in a tire, there may be an injury to the Achilles tendon. Medical professionals should consider the nature of the crash and examine for injuries that are especially likely.
Immediate Medical Attention for Motorcycle Internal Injury
Immediate medical attention for a suspected motorcycle internal injury is critical. Injuries may be life-threatening while showing only mild or moderate symptoms. In addition, prompt medical attention proves the link between the accident and injuries.
Getting Help from an Attorney
There are many ways that an attorney can help you compensate for internal injuries from a motorcycle accident:
- Knowledge of the internal injuries that are commonly caused by motorcycle accidents to make sure that your injuries are fully identified
- Claiming future damages, including physical therapy and nursing care
- Documenting injuries with medical records and expert testimony, showing that injuries are the result of the accident
- Identifying damages that you can claim because of internal injuries, including pain and suffering, anguish, disfigurement, and lifestyle damages
- Pursuing your case through the legal process
- Negotiating your compensation; taking steps to advance your claim to trial
Because internal injuries are complex, a claim for compensation involving internal injuries may require sifting through the tangible and intangible effects in the wake of a crash. A motorcycle accident attorney can help you with the legal and factual issues that are critical for building a claim.
Contact a Lawyer for Internal Injuries from a Motorcycle Accident
Lawyer Robert “Bobby” Jones of Bobby Jones Law represents riders who have suffered internal injuries from a motorcycle accident. He listens to your story, learns about your case, and builds the evidence. Then, he pursues your claim and the compensation that you deserve.
To see how Bobby Jones may assist you with compensating for internal injuries from a motorcycle accident, contact us today.
Sources: Petit, et. all., A review of common motorcycle collision mechanisms of injury; Stanford Medicine, Recognizing Internal Injuries in Young Athletes.
Why people trust Bobby Jones Law
Attorney Bobby Jones works tirelessly for the injured in Greenville and its surrounding communities. His achievements include:
- More than $60 million collected for our clients
- Multiple recoveries exceeding $1 million, including an eight-figure settlement
- Recognized by Best Lawyers in America
- Named among the “Best Law Firms” by U.S. News & World Report
- Named to the Top 100 Trial Lawyers by The National Trial Lawyers
- Named to Super Lawyers 2017–2024
- Member of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum
- Selected as Legal Elite of the Upstate 2021–2023
We’re humbled to be considered one of the top firms in the Upstate and invite you to learn what sets our award-winning legal services apart. Call or request a consultation online.
