Common Injuries Suffered From Bicycle Accidents With Vehicles

When two motor vehicles of roughly equal size and weight crash into each other on a roadway, the occupants of both vehicles may experience a number of injuries, ranging from minor bumps and bruises to serious, life-altering organ damage. In the worst case scenario, the accident may even join the many traffic incidents that result in fatalities each year. When one vehicle is substantially larger than the other, as in collisions between passenger cars and semi-trucks, the smaller vehicle and its passengers tend to bear the brunt of the impact. In bicycle accidents involving motor vehicles, the bicycle is always destined to be smaller and lighter than the other vehicle in the accident – and a bicycle offers its rider very little protection. Depending on the vehicles involved, the speed of travel, the angle of impact, and similar factors, bicycle accidents with vehicles can result in injuries from a scraped knee to life-threatening bodily trauma. If you have suffered injuries as a bicyclist in a traffic accident caused by driver negligence, you may be entitled to compensation. Reach out to Shillen Mackall Seldon & Spicer to learn more about your legal options in Florida, New Hampshire, or Vermont by calling (802) 457-4848 today to schedule your free case evaluation. 

Who Is Usually at Fault if a Bicycle Is Involved in an Accident?

People Powered Movement indicates that in 2021 bicyclists in Florida suffered a total of 5,952 collisions. The organization claims that Florida bicycle accidents are “overwhelmingly” caused by the vehicle drivers involved in these crashes – a claim for which the group offers as evidence the statistic that Florida law enforcement officials found the driver at fault for the accident in 140 out of 169 fatal bicycle accidents. 

There are a few reasons, in Florida and elsewhere, why motor vehicle drivers may be more likely than bicyclists to be at fault in car-bike accidents. These include: 

Speed of Travel 

Even the top speeds achieved by competitive cyclists riding aerodynamically optimized racing bikes during such events as the Tour de France are modest by comparison to the ordinary operating speed of a motor vehicle under normal traffic conditions. This disparity in speed means that bicyclists, compared to drivers, have more time to activate their reflexes in response to roadway hazards – in many cases, this greater response time can enable a bicyclist to avoid a looming crash entirely. 

Infrastructure 

While urban planners in some areas have made significant progress in adapting their cities’ infrastructure to be more bicycle-friendly, the reality is that in sprawling metro areas most roads are designed primarily for automobiles. Sidewalks, meanwhile, are typically reserved for pedestrians. In the absence of a dedicated bicycle lane, bicyclists are forced to share the same lanes of travel as passenger cars and semi-trucks, where the significant disparities in both size and speed make bicycles vulnerable to even a split second of driver inattention. 

Habituation

The inherent risks posed by disparities in speed of travel and congeniality of urban design can be exacerbated by the simple fact that in many areas there are far more cars and trucks on the road than bicycles. The drivers of these motor vehicles are used to watching for small cars, midsize SUVs, and large semi-trucks; they are much less likely to be watching for, and ready to respond to, a bicycle changing lanes in front of them, or approaching an intersection at which the driver plans to turn. 

Blind Spots

Not only do motor vehicles travel faster than bicycles, they also include blind spots due to their structure – and these blind spots can be ideally placed to make bicyclists, who sit lower in the road and take up less horizontal space than even the smallest subcompact passenger cars, difficult for drivers to see in time to prevent a crash. As a result, even watchful drivers can easily miss a bicycle – sometimes with disastrous results. 

Common Injuries Resulting From Bicycle Accidents

The type of injury a bicyclist is most likely to sustain in a collision with a motor vehicle will depend to some extent on the type of crash. The size of the vehicle may present another consideration. In general, however, the following are common injuries that may result from bicycle accidents with vehicles: 

• head injuries
• skin rash 
• musculoskeletal injuries 
• eye injuries 
• internal injuries 

Head Injuries

Of the common bicycle accident injuries mentioned above, head injuries are among the most consistently dangerous. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) provides a guide for properly fitting a bicycle helmet in order to minimize the risks of serious cranial trauma in the event of a crash. 

Musculoskeletal Injuries

Musculoskeletal injuries can include both soft tissue injuries (for instance, to the body’s muscles and ligaments) and skeletal fractures (broken bones). Compared to head injuries, musculoskeletal injuries offer fewer opportunities for “buffering” by way of protective gear compared to head injuries. 

In most cases, musculoskeletal injuries are treatable, although the recovery period can be prolonged in case of compound fractures, where the broken bone tears through muscle tissue and breaks the surface of the skin. Musculoskeletal injuries that affect the spinal column may present a more complex set of problems, with a less optimistic prognosis. 

Skin Rash 

Many people are familiar with the dermal abrasions resulting in bike accident skin rash from their childhood experiences with scraped knees – often the result of accidents while learning to ride a bicycle. Minor cuts and scrapes may heal quickly and leave no lasting damage. However, at greater speeds and when accompanied by the force of impact resulting from a vehicle collision, a bicyclist can be dragged along the roadway surface for an extended distance, abrading large areas of skin and potentially digging beneath the upper layers to expose the sensitive tissue underneath. 

These more serious cases of “road rash” often require extensive treatment to repair the damage, and may result in disfiguring scarring that negatively impacts both the victim’s mobility and their quality of life. If you have suffered from road rash dermal abrasions as the result of a bicycle accident, you may wish to take proactive steps by scheduling a consultation with a member of the experienced bicycle accident team at Shillen Mackall Seldon & Spicer to get help estimating your likely future expenses resulting from the accident and in evaluating your options for pursuing compensation. 

Get Help Evaluating Your Legal Options After a Bicycle Accident with an Experienced Vermont Bicycle Accident Attorney 

Bicycle accidents are unfortunately common across the United States. In bicycle accidents involving motor vehicles, the bicyclist is typically at a severe disadvantage due to the disparity in vehicle size and the comparatively lesser protection from impact a bicycle affords its rider. If you have suffered injuries as a result of a bicycle accident in which the other party was at fault, you may be able to recover compensation for damages such as bicycle repairs and medical interventions. To learn more, schedule a free case evaluation with an experienced bicycle accident attorney from Shillen Mackall Seldon & Spicer. Call (802) 457-4848 today to speak with a member of our team in Florida, New Hampshire, or Vermont.