Hopping onto your bicycle should not be a weighted decision, but it might be, since there is always the chance of being hit by a car driver who wasn’t paying attention, speeding, or otherwise being reckless. As a bicycle accident attorney residents trust from Glotzer & Leib, LLP would advise, victims of bicycle accidents must put their health first and take immediate action against the offending driver. The injuries a bicyclist tends to sustain are severe, simply because a cyclist does not have an external shield to protect them from impact.
Any person who is clipped by a car driver should call 911, receive medical attention, file a report, and contact a lawyer who is familiar in handling personal injury cases like these, similar to a team member at Glotzer & Leib, LLP. It is rare for a bicyclist to walk away after being hit by a car without any kind of injury. The car driver did not have to be going very fast to inflict a great amount of harm. Here are examples of injuries that victims of bicycle accidents may endure and need medical attention for:
Traumatic Head Injuries
Head injuries can range from minor scrapes on the head to fractures of the skull. Brain injuries are a main cause of death for injured cyclists across the nation. Bicyclists may sustain a brain injury internally, and not have any kind of obvious injury to the exterior of the head itself. Conditions such as concussions, brain inflammation, and brain bleeding may not have an external wound associated with it. A traumatic brain injury can cause symptoms such as mood swings, memory loss, sleeping excessively, insomnia, nausea, vomiting, loss of consciousness, interrupted bodily function, and emotional or mental changes.
Facial Injuries and Body Trauma
Bike accidents can cause damage to the rider’s face, in addition to broken or lost teeth, vision damage, fractured jaw, road rash, broken nose, or other injuries that result in permanent scarring. Most bicyclists will have some degree of soft-tissue injury after the crash. A cyclist who gets hit on the back wheel may have whiplash, and a cyclist who gets hit on their side may have tears in their knee ligaments or a broken leg. Riders who try to brace their fall after being hit may break their wrists or hands, or dislocate their shoulder, as they land on the pavement.
Mental Trauma and Fears
Mental health should not be discounted when a bicycle accident happens. A cyclist may have newly developed fears about getting back onto their bike again, especially if the accident involved severe injury. A cyclist may not feel as confident as they used to be, or may feel like they are not able to get back on a bike ever again. The impacts to a bicyclist are not just physical, as mental health and emotional anguish can be a side effect of the accident too.
