Common Injuries from Bicycle Accidents

Our client was hit by another cyclist riding in the same shoulder but traveling the opposite, incorrect direction. The collision caused our client serious neck injuries and had to have surgery to fuse together vertebrae in our client’s neck, an anterior cervical discectomy.

Other common injuries from Roswell bike crashes include:

Head trauma;
Neurological damage;
Spinal cord injury;
Disc bulge or ruptured disc;
Bone factures.

The scaphoid, radius, or ulna bones are three of the easiest bones to break. These wrist bone breaks or fractures can cause extreme pain and swelling. Sometimes, when the pain and swelling are not so severe, the injury is confused with a sprain.

Bike accidents are a frequent cause of this kind of injury. A cyclist can collide with an object, a hazard on the road, a pedestrian or a vehicle causing the cyclist to fall off the bike and onto the ground….an easy way for a scaphoid, radius or ulna fracture or break to occur.

If there is a fracture or break of a wrist bone, a doctor might recommend two courses of action: nonsurgical treatment or surgical treatment.

1. Nonsurgical Treatment: a doctor will place a cast around the injured hand or forearm, extending to include the thumb and above the elbow if the fracture or break is in the middle of the ulna or radius bone. The length of treatment depends on the severity of the injury and then how well it heals back together.

2. Surgical Treatment: a doctor may recommend surgery when the fracture or break is so severe that a metal implant is needed to provide support for the bone to heal back together. Screws or wires are inserted into whichever bone is injured- the scaphoid, radius or ulna.

After treatment finishes, the doctor (probably an orthopaedic doctor at this point) gives an “ok” for the cast or splint to be removed. Physical therapy might be recommended to promote the use of the muscles, tendons and ligaments surrounding the wrist that have not been in use from the cast. Follow up doctor appointments and even follow up X-rays or CT scans can also be common for wrist injuries.

When a cyclist is injured in an accident, there can be short and long term difficulties resulting from the accident. The monetary damages that can the most overwhelming are usually the hospital bills, lost wages and mental or physical suffering.

Listed below are some safety tips to avoid accidents between cyclists.

Tips for Riding with Other Cyclists

- Pass on the LEFT and not the RIGHT- the same rules for the road apply to cyclists, slower traffic should ride on the right side and passing should be done only on the left side of traffic.
- Ride single-file whenever possible- although two cyclists riding next to each other is not illegal, it is much safer to ride single-file especially if the roads are winding and/or have blind spots.
- Warn others in your riding group- talking to the other cyclists you are riding with is an easy safety tip to adhere to, calling if there is a car coming from behind or if there is dangerous debris in the roadway.
- Don’t follow too closely- be careful to maintain a safe space between your bicycle and another rider’s bicycle.
- Be aware of other road users- share the road with other cyclists you are not riding with, with runners, and with other non-traditional vehicles.