Safety-minded motorcyclists may go their entire lives without laying their bikes down or experiencing a full-blown crash. Other times, you could be involved in an accident before you leave your neighborhood.
Road rash is one of the most common injuries motorcycle accident victims suffer. You may think it amounts to little more than surface scrapes, but it is sometimes severe enough to impact your well-being significantly.
Unique injury characteristics
The informal term road rash implies a skin abrasion, but it is a burn injury caused by extreme friction. For example, the friction created if you slide across the pavement during a crash is nearly always intense enough to result in road rash.
According to a 2020 study, road rash has characteristics that set it apart from other scrapes and burns. These wounds are much more likely to pick up foreign debris like gravel, glass or metal, which becomes embedded in the injured tissue. Road rash also comes with the risk of deep bacteria seeding.
The research also reveals these study statistics:
- Nearly 60% of patients required surgical intervention
- About half the studied patients had deep (full-thickness or three-inch) burns
- Some 36% also sustained associated injuries
- Almost 20% developed road rash wound infections
Also, note that burn infections can arise whether you are or are not receiving medical care.
You may not think road rash injuries will result in a significant award. However, compensation packages awarded in Ohio depend on the losses victims suffer rather than the type or classification of injury. This means you have a legal right to seek injury restitution that addresses the full extent of your harm.
