It is summertime in Ohio, and with it comes the call of the open road, easy riding and all the other things you enjoy about riding a motorcycle. While motorcycles are a lifestyle all their own, you need to keep in mind that without the proper vigilance and protective gear, you have an 80 percent chance of sustaining serious injuries or even dying should you and your cycle crash.
Thousands of riders like you suffer numerous injuries in cycle crashes every year, but here are the three most common injuries you risk.
1. Head injury
While wearing a proper helmet can reduce your risk of dying by 35 percent, it cannot protect you from such possibly catastrophic injuries as a TBI. A traumatic brain injury is one in which the force of your head hitting the road, ground or any other hard surface during a crash causes your brain to violently move back and forth within your skull. Given that your brain contains thousands of cells, nerves and other sensitive tissues, this violent crashing against your skull could injure any or all of them. When this happens, your brain can cease functioning properly and become dysfunctional. Depending on which parts of your brain you injure and the severity of those injuries, the result could be a long-term or even permanent disability that drastically decreases your quality of life and makes it impossible for you to work.
2. Bone fractures
No one need remind you that your cycle cannot stand upright on its own. Consequently it tips over whenever you crash, often trapping one of your legs underneath. While broken legs are the most frequent motorcycle injury, other parts of your body also are at high risk of fracture, including the following:
- Shoulders
- Arms
- Wrists
- Pelvis
3. Road rash
While a rash may not sound serious, what that word means in the context of motorcycle injuries is what happens when your skin comes into contact with the roadway or other surfaces during a crash. If you sustain a first-degree road rash, it scrapes, but does not actually break, your skin. A second-degree road rash breaks your skin, but leaves your underlying tissues intact. A third-degree road rash scrapes off your skin and exposes your underlying fat and tissue layers to the ravages of the road. It should go without saying that you should always wear protective clothing whenever you ride.
