Types of Motorcycle Injury Attorneys in Union, Middlesex, Essex and Hudson Counties

You may be the most experienced and safest motorcycle rider on the road. However, when sharing the highways with car, truck, and bus drivers, you need to watch out for other drivers who often “don’t see motorcycles and who routinely drive distracted and recklessly in Clark, Edison, Plainfield and across New Jersey. They have tons of steel, airbags and seat belts to protect them; bikers don’t.

If you or someone you care about has been in a motorcycle accident, you may be suffering from any number of catastrophic injuries. A loved one may have suffered a wrongful death in a motorcycle crash. If so, we are very sorry for your loss. We invite you to contact the knowledgeable, successful personal injury lawyers at Team Law today for a consultation about the accident. We will fight for your family and work hard to obtain the maximum compensation possible for injuries sustained in motorcycle accidents throughout Middlesex, Union, and Essex & Hudson Counties, New Jersey.

Common Types of Motorcycle Injuries Occurring in Crashes in Westfield, Jersey City, Rahway and across North Jersey

Prior proper planning, as you may know, is the key to success in most things in life. As a motorcyclist, you obey traffic laws, wear your helmet and take other safety precautions as directed by both NJ State law and common sense. When accidents happen in West New York, Newark, Orange, and surrounding North Jersey towns, a little amount of proper planning will have much impact on the severity of your injuries. Motorcyclists may sustain any number of catastrophic injuries including paralysis, limb amputation, serious burns, and wrongful death.

Fatal Injuries: The NJ Department of Law and Public Safety says there were almost 13,000 motorcycle accidents in New Jersey from 2009 to 2013. Further, the Governors Highway Safety Association revealed in a spring 2015 report that, across the US, just under 4,600 people lost their lives in motorcycle crashes in 2014. Fifty-four of those people were killed in motorcycle accidents in New Jersey. There are many statistics put out by transportation-related organizations and departments, public and private, on a regular basis. All these reports have one sobering thing in common: motorcyclists are far more likely to die in an accident than are the drivers or passengers of other vehicles.

Head Injuries: Sometimes referred to as Traumatic Brain Injury when the damage sustained is severe and long-term, there are various head injuries that can have a life-altering impact. It almost goes without saying that, along with your heart, the brain is one of the most vital organs in the human body. When you have a head injury, your brain – which is protected only by your skull – may be catastrophically injured.

Even when you are wearing a helmet, the brain can move back and forth in the skull, creating serious damage. You can experience severe headaches, dizziness, blurry vision, loss of sight or hearing as well as far more serious, life-threatening symptoms. For example, if your brain swells or bleeds, the result can be lifelong impairment and even wrongful death. Concussions are the most common head injury and they can range in severity from mild (headaches) to severe (permanent brain damage.)

Neck & Spinal Cord Injuries: Oftentimes, a biker who suffers a head or brain injury in a collision will also sustain a serious neck or spinal cord injury. The Mayo Clinic defines a spinal cord injury as “damage to any part of the spinal cord or nerves at the end of the spinal canal which often causes permanent changes in strength, sensation and other body functions below the site of the injury.

Whiplash is a less severe, but still quite debilitating, neck injury. It is an extremely common motorcycle accident injury. Sometimes referred to as a neck sprain, whiplash occurs when the discs, ligaments, muscles, and nerves get damaged when the head is jerked back and forth. This is common in motor vehicle accidents. Unfortunately, for a motorcyclist, even a helmet won’t prevent whiplash. Symptoms of whiplash include headaches, shoulder, and low back pain, numbness, dizziness, trouble sleeping and concentrating. Memory is often affected, as well.

Road Rash: To the non-biker, “rash doesn’t sound so horrible. However, any motorcyclist who has made contact with the pavement knows that sliding across a road – whether being dragged by the bike or after being thrown from the motorcycle after a crash – is extremely serious business. Road rash occurs when the top layers of skin are scraped away by the cement or blacktop of the road. This is far more than a skin irritation or bruise and simple cuts and scrapes. Road rash can cause severe nerve damage and, when not attended to properly by medical personnel, road rash can turn into an extremely serious infection.

Biker’s Arm: A motorcyclist doesn’t have tons of steel, airbags and seat belts to protect them in case of an accident. When the body experiences trauma, such as in an accident, it is human instinct to put your arms out in front of you or wrap your arms around yourself in an effort to shield your body from injury. When a biker does this, his or her arms may take an enormous brunt of the impact with the road or other object. This condition is known as Biker’s Arm. The result of this injury can be nerve damage and permanent paralysis.

Leg Fractures, Knee Damage, and other Lower Extremity Injuries: For all of the reasons previously discussed, a motorcyclist’s hips, knees, ankles, and feet are at risk for serious injury in a crash. Broken bones, deep cuts, extremely painful bruising and road rash are all possible leg injuries a motorcyclist can sustain in an accident.

Contact the Skilled Personal Injury Attorneys at Team Law about Your Motorcycle Accident & Injuries

For bikers, the pleasures of enjoying the open road generally far outweigh the risks associated with a motorcycle accident. Smart, safe riders take the proper precautions – appropriate clothing, helmets, follow the rules of the road and stay alert – when they ride. But, when another driver isn’t so cautious – they drive drunk, get distracted by their cell phone or passengers, they fall asleep at the wheel or any other negligent behavior – it’s the motorcyclist who bears the brunt of the damage of the accident.

Contact Team Law today for a free consultation about your motorcycle accident and injuries. We have conveniently located offices throughout New Jersey including New Brunswick, Summit and Clark. We understand you want justice and you need financial compensation. We are on your side and will fight tirelessly to protect your rights and interests. We’ve collected millions of dollars for motorcyclists injured in accidents and we will work hard for you and your family, too.