Attorneys
Motorcycle crashes can happen in an instant from a distracted driver, a slick road, or a collision that sends a rider airborne. Among the most painful and impairing motorcycle crash injuries are burn injuries, road rash that tears through layers of skin, exhaust burns that cause permanent scarring, and fire-related burns from fuel ignitions that can be life-threatening.
These are not minor injuries that will heal easily. They are complex, serious wounds that require surgery, weeks of hospitalization, and long periods of recovery that keep riders out of work and away from their normal lives.
If another party's negligence caused the motorcycle crash that left you with burn injuries, you may have the right to seek compensation.
How Do Motorcycle Burn Injuries Occur?
Not all motorcycle burn injuries happen the same way. Several different types of burn injuries result from motorcycle crashes, each with its own causes, severity, and treatment path.
Road Rash Motorcycle Burns
Road rash occurs when a rider is thrown from or dragged by their bike during a crash. This causes skin to scrape across the pavement or gravel. Resulting in a serious scrape, at high speeds, these wounds can penetrate the body's tissue layers, causing injuries that require immediate hospitalization and extended healing.
Deep Scrapes
When the rider's body scrapes along pavement at high speeds, the wounds may be severe enough to require stitches. Open wounds like these carry a high risk of infection.
Bruising and Compression Injuries
If the rider becomes pinned between the motorcycle and the road surface, serious bruising and crushing injuries can result, adding to the complexity of treatment and recovery.
Avulsion Injuries
The most severe form of road rash, avulsion injuries involve damage to multiple layers of skin that exposes and damages the underlying muscle or fat tissue. These injuries frequently require surgical intervention and skin grafting to properly heal.
Motorcycle road rash is categorized by degree of severity. First-degree road rash is the mildest, involving skin redness that can typically be treated at home with cleaning and antibiotic ointment. Second-degree road rash breaks the skin and causes more discomfort, but it can also often be managed at home.
Third-degree road rash, however, is a serious medical emergency. It affects all skin layers, exposes underlying tissue, and can even damage muscles and other structures. Third-degree road rash almost always requires professional medical intervention, including surgery.
Wearing protective clothing, such as leather gear, while riding can reduce the likelihood of serious road rash in a crash, but it cannot eliminate the risk, particularly at higher speeds or in severe collisions.
Exhaust Burns
Exhaust burns are another common motorcycle burn injury, occurring when the rider or a passenger makes accidental contact with the hot exhaust pipe during or after a crash. This can be extremely painful and may result in permanent scarring.
Research published in the medical journal Burns by researchers at Athens University Medical School found that most exhaust burn injuries occurred below the knee on the right leg, that passengers sustained more than 70 percent of these injuries, not riders, and that more than 65 percent of victims suffered second-degree burns.
Fire and Collision Burns
Upon collision, gasoline or other flammable fluids can ignite, causing fires and explosions, resulting in serious, sometimes life-threatening burn injuries. Combustion, fluid leaks, and faulty wiring may all contribute to a motorcycle fire following a crash. Riders who sustain these injuries need to discuss the risks of complications, including scarring, infections, and nerve damage, with their medical team.
Skin Grafting After a Motorcycle Crash Burn
For third-degree burns and severe road rash, skin grafting is often a necessary surgical procedure. Understanding this treatmentis important, both for your injury and your injury claim.
What Is Skin Grafting?
Skin is taken from another part of the patient's own body, known as a donor site, or donor skin from another source is used to cover the burn wound. This is a surgical procedure performed in a hospital under general anesthesia. Grafting is necessary whenever skin is missing or severely damaged and must be replaced.
Before the graft can be placed, the damaged area must be thoroughly cleaned. This often involves removing debris embedded in the wound, such as gravel or tiny pebbles from the road surface, a painful process.
Debridement is also required, which involves removing dead tissue from the wound site. While blood vessels in the area are constricted to stop blood flow into the injured tissue.
Main types of skin grafts:
Split-Thickness Skin Grafts
Used when burns damage the epidermis (outer skin layer) and some of the dermis (middle layer). These grafts generally require several days for initial healing.
Full-Thickness Skin Grafts
Used for more severe burns where both layers of skin are significantly damaged. These are more complex procedures and take longer to heal.
The graft is held in position with dressing or sutures, and the area is covered to prevent infection. Even with proper care, complications can occur, including graft failure due to infection, swelling, or improper wound preparation.
Recovery After Skin Grafting Is Long and Difficult
Recovery is not a short process. Patients may require weeks of hospitalization for observation of both the donor site and the graft site, and to ensure the body does not reject the transplanted skin.
Even after discharge from the hospital, movement may be limited for weeks while the graft site continues to heal. Returning to work or resuming normal activities is often not possible for an extended period of time.
The Psychological Toll
Depression and other forms of mental health illnesses are common after traumatic accidents. Survivors may struggle with the visible effects of scarring, the disruption to their daily lives, and the emotional weight of the crash itself.
These psychological injuries are real and compensable. Any comprehensive motorcycle injury claim should account not only for medical bills and lost wages, but for the full emotional and psychological impact the crash has had on the victim's life.
Your Legal Rights After a Motorcycle Crash Burn Injury
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reported that more than 1.2 million people were treated in emergency rooms for non-fatal motorcycle-related injuries in just seven years. If another party's negligence caused the crash that left you with burn injuries, the law may entitle you to seek compensation for those damages.
What Damages Can You Recover?
- Medical expenses: Emergency treatment, hospitalization, surgery such as skin grafting, medications, and ongoing follow-up care.
- Property damage: For damage to your motorcycle and other personal property.
- Lost wages: For income lost during your treatment and recovery period.
- Pain and suffering: For the physical pain and emotional distress caused by the crash and your injuries, including psychological trauma and depression resulting from the accident.
Proving fault is a key element of any successful motorcycle injury claim. Equally important is thorough documentation of every loss and injury you have sustained.
Protecting Your Motorcycle Injury Claim
From the moment of the crash, every action you take can significantly affect your ability to recover fair compensation. Protect your claim by:
- Keep meticulous records and notes of all medical treatments, doctor's visits, and bills related to your motorcycle burn injuries.
- Document all missed time from work as a result of your injuries and recovery.
- Obtain the police report and any witness statements.
- Collect any photographs taken at the accident scene or of your injuries.
- Write down notes on the timeline of the crash and the events surrounding it while the details are fresh in your memory.
Speak With a Motorcycle Injury Attorney About Your Crash Burn Injuries
Motorcycle burn injuries, whether road rash that requires skin grafting, exhaust burns that leave permanent scars, or fire-related burns from a collision, are among the most painful and disruptive injuries a rider can suffer. The road to recovery is long, the medical costs can be significant, and the emotional toll is real. You should not have to face that burden alone, especially when someone else's negligence caused the crash.
An experienced motorcycle injury attorney can review your case, explain your legal options, and help you pursue the full compensation you are entitled to, including medical expenses, lost wages, property damage, and pain and suffering. Discussing the effects of your motorcycle accident with an attorney is an important step in understanding what your claim may be worth and how to move forward.
The Iowa injury lawyers at Walker, Billingsley & Bair work hard to level the field between injured Iowans and insurance companies. That's why we provide this FREE book: Iowa Consumer's Guide to Dog Bites: 5 Insider's Secrets to Not Get Bitten by Your Claim. To learn more about what our legal team will do to help you protect your Iowa injury claim, contact Walker, Billingsley & Bair to schedule a no-cost consultation. Call 641-792-3595 for help or to order your free accident book today.
Read Next
