Over the last twenty years, nonfatal bicycle accidents have cost over $200 billion. Most of these costs are medical bills. The serious injuries outlined below often require extensive hospitalization. Then, these victims must usually endure months of painful physical therapy to regain lost function. Ancillary medical costs, like helicopter medevac, cutting-edge prescription drugs, and advanced medical devices, may be almost as much as the direct costs,
Health insurance companies usually don’t cover injury-related costs. So, it’s very important for a Columbus personal injury attorney to obtain maximum compensation in these situations. Unless a settlement covers all past and future medical expenses, the victim could be financially responsible for these bills. An attorney also obtains compensation for other economic losses, such as lost wages, as well as noneconomic losses, such as emotional distress.
Broken Bones
The force of the impact usually propels these riders off their bikes. They often fly several feet through the air before they land on concrete, asphalt, or another hard surface. That impact usually shatters bones instead of simply breaking them.
A simple break is relatively easy to set. But doctors must use metal parts to surgically reconstruct shattered bones. The additional, and more expensive, treatment means longer, and also more expensive, physical therapy.
Even after doctors and physical therapists finish their work, permanent injury often remains, such as lost range of motion in a knee, elbow, or other joint.
Head Injuries
Brain injuries, like broken bones, are usually permanent. Also like broken bones, the force of a bicycle wreck usually causes head injuries.
When these victims fall and land hard, their brains usually slam against the insides of their skulls. That violent motion usually causes brain bleeding and swelling. Only a very skilled doctor can perform the necessary surgical procedures. A Columbus personal injury attorney can connect a victim with such a doctor.
Brain injuries and broken bones are much different in other ways. Physical therapy is a good example. Broken bone physical therapist must restore what’s there. Brain injury physical therapists must start from scratch, by training uninjured areas of the brain to take over lost functions.
PTSD
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is a specific kind of brain injury. The extreme stress of a car accident or other such incident shrinks the cerebral cortex (area of the brain that controls logical responses) and enlarges the amygdala (emotional responses).
Therefore, these victims cannot react logically to future stressful situations. Specific symptoms include:
- Anger,
- Flashbacks,
- Nightmares,
- Hypervigilance, and
- Depression.
A combination of medicine and therapy often manages these symptoms. But not everyone can tolerate strong PTSD drugs. Furthermore, many people don’t respond to many kinds of PTSD therapy.
Internal Injuries
The force in a bicycle wreck doesn’t just shatter bones and cause brain injuries. It also causes internal organs to bump into each other. This friction causes internal bleeding. Such bleeding is hard to detect and even harder to stop. As a result, many bicycle accident victims lose about a fifth of their blood supplies before doctors even have a chance to examine them.
Road Burns
These injuries usually aren’t life threatening, unless infection sets in. However, these injuries are usually life altering. Road burns severely impair mobility. Additionally, only time cures these wounds. So, these victims must let life pass them by until these injuries heal. That fact might make road burns the most severe bicycle injury.
Contact a Tough-Minded Franklin County Lawyer
Injury victims are entitled to substantial compensation. For a free consultation with an experienced bicycle accident attorney in Columbus, contact the Oliver Law Office. You have a limited amount of time to act. Call us now at (614)-220-9100 or contact us online to schedule your case evaluation and to learn more about your legal options.
Source:
reuters.com/article/us-health-cycling-accident-costs/medical-costs-of-bike-crashes-on-the-rise-idUSKBN19022J
