A motorcycle crash can leave you hurt in ways that are obvious at the scene and in ways that take days to surface. Riders have far less protection than people in cars, so the same impact that dents a bumper can cause anything from road rash to life-altering harm, and the costs follow you long after the tow truck leaves. Here is what riders are most often treated for, what to do medically afterward, and how Illinois law handles the losses that come with it.
Common Motorcycle Accident Injuries
Bruises, Cuts, and Scrapes
One of the most common outcomes of a motorcycle accident is bruises, cuts, and scrapes. These are typically on the more minor side, but a serious case, such as when you get a deep laceration from a nearby sharp object, is not so simple.
Bruising is the breakage of small blood vessels beneath your skin from an impact on your body. If you were thrown off of your motorcycle, you may have experienced body bruising. Bruises can last up to several weeks and will leave a black or blue mark on your skin. The best way to take care of a bad bruise is to ice and rest the area.
Cuts are usually harmless breaks of skin, and minor cuts can often be treated at home with a bacteria-inhibiting ointment and a bandage. In a particularly dangerous accident, cuts can be more severe and require more than at-home treatment. A serious cut will have excessive blood gushing or continuously flowing out despite attempts to stop it, and it can cut to the bone, making it even more susceptible to infection. Any cut is at risk of infection due to the exposure of the muscle and possibly other internal parts, so serious cuts should be treated by a medical professional to ensure they heal properly.
Scrapes take off the top layers of skin and may bleed a little, though they usually do not go as deep as a cut. These should be disinfected and covered, changing the cover every day, to allow them to heal on their own. If skin loss from a scrape goes deep, it may require a medical professional to look at it. With any of these injuries, keeping your tetanus shot current matters, because tetanus bacteria can enter through a break in the skin and there is no cure once the infection takes hold.
Neck Injuries and Whiplash
Without a seat belt or airbag, riders are at higher risk of neck injuries, which are fairly common in accidents such as a rear-end collision. One common type is whiplash. According to the Mayo Clinic, whiplash is a neck injury that occurs from forceful and rapid back-and-forth movement of the neck. Symptoms usually appear within a few days and include neck pain or stiffness, loss of range of motion in the neck, dizziness, irritability, and shoulder pain. It may take weeks to recover, and because complications are possible, it is essential to seek immediate medical attention.
A collision can also cause a different injury in a motorcycle accident, such as severe neck pain or a broken neck. A broken neck can be diagnosed with an X-ray and is generally treated with a neck brace and rest. If severe enough, it can damage your spinal cord and cause complications, including paralysis below the neck, called quadriplegia. This can be permanent or, depending on the severity, temporary.
Internal Organ Damage
One of the most severe injuries that can result from a motorcycle accident is internal organ damage, which is any injury, damage, or internal bleeding involving an internal organ. A few particularly severe types include internal bleeding, a ruptured spleen, an abdominal aortic aneurysm rupture, and broken ribs.
Internal bleeding may not necessarily involve an organ, but it is not outwardly apparent and must be diagnosed very promptly. If it is not treated as soon as possible, complications include organ failure, coma, or death. A large amount of internal bleeding in the brain can cause significant brain damage ending in a coma-like state for life, while minor internal bleeding in the abdomen may cause shortness of breath, dizziness, and abdominal bruises and can be treated more simply.
A ruptured spleen can be dangerous. According to Mayo Clinic, your spleen sits behind your ribcage and helps your body fight infection and filter old blood cells from your bloodstream. A rupture occurs when there is a break on its surface, which can cause internal bleeding that can be fatal. It may only require rest, or it may require emergency surgery. Any strong impact to the abdomen, such as being thrown onto the pavement, could result in a ruptured spleen.
An abdominal aortic aneurysm rupture can occur from physical trauma such as a motorcycle accident, according to the Mayo Clinic. It happens when the aorta, the major vessel supplying blood to the body, becomes enlarged and ruptures, which can cause life-threatening bleeding and may require emergency surgery.
Broken ribs are one of the most common internal injuries from a road collision, especially for more exposed motorcyclists. Physical trauma to the chest can crack or break the bones of the ribcage, and though the ribs are not organs, they can puncture surrounding organs and cause internal bleeding, requiring immediate medical attention. The best way to reduce your risk of an internal organ injury is to protect your external body with thick, sturdy clothing and padding so it takes the first brunt of an impact.
Paralysis
According to WebMD, paralysis is when you cannot move certain parts of your body after something goes wrong with their connection to your brain. It can be complete body paralysis, where the paralyzed muscles have no movement or function, or partial paralysis, where you have partial control. It can be generalized and widespread throughout your body or localized to a certain part, and it can be temporary or permanent.
Because motorcycles lack the surrounding steel protection that cars have, riders often have too little padding to protect them in a collision, and the resulting injuries can damage the body’s nerves and leave a rider paralyzed. Paralysis often results from a spinal cord injury. Motor vehicle crashes, motorcycles included, are the leading cause of traumatic spinal cord injury in the United States and account for roughly four in ten cases. The spine holds a large portion of the nerves that connect to the brain, so any harsh damage to that area can end in possible paralysis. If you suspect you may be paralyzed following an accident, seek medical attention immediately.
Loss of Limbs
One of the most severe injuries from a nonfatal motorcycle accident is the loss of limbs, or amputation. This occurs when a rider is hit with so much force that a limb is damaged and wounded to the point that amputation is the only way to repair the damage safely. It can also include the loss of toes and fingers. Any amputation is life-threatening and life-altering, requiring surgery, physical therapy, and possibly prosthetics. Beyond the physical damage, such a drastic change can take a heavy toll mentally and emotionally, and it may help to see a therapist about these changes.
Disfigurement
Sometimes an injury has a lasting impact on your outward appearance, which is a disfiguring injury. Disfigurement is usually a prominent change in a person’s appearance and can be very psychologically damaging if the area is often exposed, causing major anxiety or stress that can limit the victim in various aspects of life. Several factors matter when evaluating a disfigurement damages claim: the more significant the impact on your life that was not present before the accident, the more compensation there may be to recover. That impact depends on the severity of the damage, the medical treatment, how long you were or will be treated, how it affects relationships, the associated medical costs, and more.
Seeking Medical Treatment After a Motorcycle Accident
If you have been injured due to another driver’s negligence, it is very important to seek a full medical evaluation as soon as possible, both to protect your health and to avoid sending the wrong message to the insurance company. Some strains, sprains, fractures, and even certain head injuries can take days or weeks to become apparent, so taking your treatment seriously matters. The first steps to take include:
- Seek medical treatment: Call 911, or have someone else do so if you cannot. If you cannot receive treatment at the scene, go to the emergency room or an urgent care facility, and follow through with your physician’s recommendations.
- Seek follow-up medical treatment: Attend all appointments for medical treatment or physical therapy, and stay in touch with your health care providers to avoid gaps in your treatment.
- Keep all documents and records: Keep everything pertaining to your accident and resulting medical treatment, and keep a detailed daily journal of how your injuries have affected your daily life and routines.
Types of Damages You May Recover
Property Damage
A motorcycle accident can also cause significant damage to your motorcycle, which can cost tens of thousands of dollars on top of medical bills and lost wages. You can file a property damage claim if your motorcycle has sustained damage affecting its appearance or function. At the scene, document all damage to provide definitive proof for the insurance adjusters and any attorneys involved. Afterward, bring the motorcycle to a repair shop for an examination and repair estimate, then report that estimate to your insurance company to verify and approve.
Emotional Distress
The damage to your emotions and mental state after a traumatizing accident can be very prominent. A serious motorcycle accident can mentally scar a person and cause post-traumatic stress disorder or chronic anxiety, especially on the road, and even a less concrete general fear can count as emotional distress if it hinders your life. Emotional distress is often part of “pain and suffering” damages, defined as compensation for the emotional, mental, or psychological impact the accident and its injuries have had on your life. To be fairly compensated, you will have to prove how the distress is affecting your everyday life and behavior and that the accident was the root cause of that significant change.
Loss of Enjoyment of Normal Life
You may also claim damages for “loss of enjoyment of normal life,” based on how your injuries have limited your ability to continue your normal, everyday lifestyle and activities. For example, if you leave an accident with several broken bones, you may be unable to care for and enjoy time with your child as you previously did for what could be months. This type of compensation is typically valued based on your lifestyle and activities before the accident, the severity of the accident, and any expert or personal testimony. If the negative impact is deemed significant, the claim can be proven and compensated accordingly.
Loss of Consortium
When a rider survives a crash but is seriously hurt, their husband or wife may bring a claim for loss of consortium, covering the companionship, support, and intimacy the injury took away. In Illinois this claim belongs to the spouse. Children and parents cannot bring one for a family member who was injured but lived (Dralle v. Ruder, 124 Ill. 2d 61 (1988)).
If the crash was fatal, the family’s parallel recovery works differently. Loss of society and companionship is then pursued through a wrongful death claim brought on behalf of the surviving spouse and next of kin (740 ILCS 180). Either route, a court weighs the closeness of the relationship and the extent of what was lost.
Punitive Damages
Unlike compensatory damages, punitive damages do not make up for your losses; they are money awarded to punish the at-fault party when their conduct went well beyond ordinary carelessness. In Illinois that generally means willful and wanton conduct, or conduct showing a conscious disregard for the safety of others. A driver who chose to get behind the wheel drunk is the classic example, and the driver does not have to have intended to hurt anyone. Compensatory damages, by contrast, cover things like damage to your motorcycle, medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering.
Punitive damages are available in Illinois motorcycle cases, but they are the exception rather than the rule, and there is a procedural hurdle worth knowing about. You cannot simply ask for them in your complaint. Your attorney has to file a pretrial motion, generally within 30 days after discovery closes, and show the court a reasonable likelihood of proving facts that would justify such an award before the request can be added at all (735 ILCS 5/2-604.1).
Illinois does not currently enforce a dollar cap on punitive damages in ordinary injury cases. A 1995 tort reform law would have limited them to three times your economic damages, but the Illinois Supreme Court struck that act down, so the cap is not in force. Where punitive damages are awarded, the amount reflects the severity of the harm, the nature of the defendant’s conduct, and what it would take to deter that conduct. Whether they are realistic in your case is a judgment call for your attorney.
What Your Motorcycle Accident Case May Be Worth
“How much is my case worth?” is a question we regularly receive, and the answer often depends heavily on the unique circumstances of your case. A successful personal injury claim generally requires objective proof that the other driver was negligent and that this negligence directly resulted in the accident and your injuries. While motorcycle accident cases vary greatly, four basic factors must be proven for a successful claim:
- A legal duty of care owed by the other party to act safely and responsibly
- A breach of that duty
- A direct link between the breach and your injuries
- Legally recognizable damages, economic or non-economic, flowing from that breach
One more thing to keep in mind before any of that matters: Illinois generally gives you two years from the date of the crash to file a personal injury lawsuit (735 ILCS 5/13-202). If a city, county, or other public body may share the blame, such as a road authority, the window can be as short as one year (745 ILCS 10/8-101), so it is worth asking early rather than late.
Illinois verdict and settlement figures compiled over a roughly 20-year span give a rough sense of the range. Averages are pulled sharply upward by a small number of catastrophic cases, so the median is the more useful number. Every case turns on its own facts, and past results never guarantee a future outcome:
- Average compensation for Illinois motorcycle accident victims of roughly $500,000
- A median recovery closer to $25,000 to $40,000
- Roughly two-thirds of plaintiffs recovering less than $100,000, with about 12% recovering $1 million or more
- In Cook County, about 60% recovering less than $100,000 and about 17% recovering $1 million or more
Contact 844-SEE-MIKE
If you or a loved one has been injured in a motorcycle accident due to another’s negligence, contact 844-SEE-MIKE for a free consultation. We will deal with the insurance adjusters, your medical bills, your property damage, and your lost wages, and keep track of your treatment so you can focus on healing. You pay nothing unless we recover money for you.
