How Can A Motorcycle Wreck In Virginia Cause A Leg Amputation?
Key Highlights:
- How can a motorcycle wreck in Virginia cause a leg amputation? Due to a lack of protection, a person’s legs end up absorbing most of the impact of the accident.
- There is trauma-based amputation and medically necessary amputation after an accident.
- The common causes of amputation include crush injury, loss of blood flow and infections.
- Virginia’s strict 1% contributory negligence rule creates a massive hurdle for injured riders as it completely bars you from receiving any compensation if you are even 1% at fault.
- With leg amputation, costs can go into hundreds of thousands of dollars which means huge losses.
A leg being amputated following a motorcycle accident is when the leg has been ripped apart during the accident or is so badly damaged that doctors have to remove it in order to save your life. Since there is no protection of a metal cage, your legs receive the full force of the impact. If you are asking yourself how can a motorcycle wreck in Virginia cause a leg amputation, it generally occurs through severe impact, broken bones, or cut arteries.
In this blog, you will learn how a wreck leads to the loss of a leg and what an injured Virginia rider can do about it. Our Virginia motorcycle accident attorney at Tatum & Atkinson Law Firm can help you claim the financial compensation that you deserve.
To receive professional legal representation now, contact us today at (800) 529-0804 for a free case evaluation
How Can a Motorcycle Wreck in Virginia Cause a Leg Amputation: Two Ways a Crash Takes a Leg
They both follow different courses of treatment in medicine.
Traumatic Amputation
In the case of traumatic amputation, the limb is ripped off in the accident as a result of a crash producing significantly high force, limbs being crushed under a vehicle, or in a situation where a victim can be dragged on the surface of the road, producing serious injury.
Surgical Amputation
In most of the cases, the limb may remain intact after the collision, but will be irreparable afterwards because of the terrible damage sustained during the crash. There is something called “mangled extremity,” where the surgeons have to decide whether the limb can be repaired or has to be removed. Legs are salvaged less frequently than the arms because the lower limb carries the weight of the body, and its blood supply system is quite fragile.
The Crashes Most Likely to Cost a Rider a Leg
Certain crash scenarios put a rider’s lower limbs at extreme risk, such as:
- Left-turn collisions – The driver turns in front of the motorcyclist, hitting them while the motorcyclist is in the middle of the road, pinning their legs.
- Head-on collisions – The most severe of all types of collisions, in which the legs are crushed by the motorcycle.
- Side collision and rear-end collision – Knock down the motorcyclist and may trap a leg between vehicles.
- Road hazards – Potholes or objects in the road cause a sudden and dangerous fall from the bike.
- Truck collisions – Being a big heavy vehicle, a truck can inflict serious leg injuries on riders due to the huge size of its wheels.
Only a small fraction of Virginia’s accidents involve motorcyclists; however, as per the statistics from the Virginia DMV, motorcyclists form a significantly larger fraction of serious injuries and accidents in Virginia.
The Injuries Behind an Amputation
In cases of a motorcycle accident, there are certain kinds of injuries, in particular those that result in a need for amputation.
Crush Injuries and Severe Fractures
If a leg is crushed by the combined weight of the vehicle and the bike, bones can break, and muscles can tear. It can also result in an open fracture, which is a bone fracture that can expose the interior parts of the body, leading to infections.
Vascular and Nerve Damage
If the arteries supplying blood to the leg are severed, the blood supply to the leg is compromised, causing ischemia, a condition that can become permanent within a couple of hours after the accident. Nerve injuries may leave a limb non-functional.
Infection and Soft-Tissue Loss
Because dirt can be driven into an open wound, infections may develop. If an infection is resistant to treatment, or if a degloving injury results in the loss of soft tissues such as muscles and skin, an amputation may be necessary several days or weeks after the accident.
The Medical Road: Immediate and Long-Term
The emergency team starts off by stopping the bleeding and stabilizing the injured, after which the surgery takes place and may involve further surgeries. The process of recovery continues for several years and involves the use of a prosthetic limb, rehabilitation, and difficult changes in mobility, as well as pain.
Close to 80% of those who have lost a limb will have phantom pain in the area where the limb used to be, while about 66% will have at least some residual pain in the limb. Apart from this, there is also long-term emotional pain that the victim suffers, such as grief, anxiety, and depression.
The Financial Weight of Losing a Leg
According to available estimates, a lifetime amputee’s lower limb amputation cost would exceed $500,000, with roughly 75% of those expenses occurring down the road in terms of your future well-being expenses, such as replacement of prosthetic limbs every few years and continued therapies/treatments.
In addition to this, there are lost wages, reduced earning capacity in the future, and costs such as home or car modifications that must be factored in as well.
Liability and Virginia’s Contributory Negligence Rule
While liability could be imposed upon the negligent driver or trucking company, the contributory negligence law in Virginia would prevent the plaintiff from obtaining any compensation if he or she were even 1% liable for the accident. Insurers always try to use prejudice against bike riders to pin 1% fault on them, which makes the collection of evidence in every case very important.
Why Fast Investigation Matters and How an Attorney Helps
Evidence of a catastrophic situation does not last very long because the motorcycle will be either fixed or disposed of, the scene will change, the video will be erased, and the information contained in the truck will be erased after a couple of weeks.
This is why legal help is necessary, as the attorney will work quickly to gather all the evidence, determine all the parties involved, and get the relevant experts to testify on how much life with an amputation will cost.
Partner With Tatum & Atkinson After a Virginia Motorcycle Amputation
Life will never be the same after losing one’s leg. If you find yourself asking how can a motorcycle wreck in Virginia cause a leg amputation and what to do next, you are not alone.
At the Tatum & Atkinson Law Firm, we help victims of injuries at the hands of motorcycle accidents in Virginia. “The Heavy Hitters” will act quickly to ensure that evidence is gathered, consultations with life-care professionals are made and the 1% contributory negligence doctrine used by insurance companies is defeated.
Proving liability and calculating medical expenses for a lifetime is vital to securing your future. Call Tatum & Atkinson Law Firm today at (800) 529-0804 for a free consultation at no charge.
FAQs About Motorcycle Wreck in Virginia!
Can I receive compensation even if I am partially at fault in the accident?
Possibly. Although the 1% rule of Virginia is rigid, the burden lies on the opposing party to show that you are at fault. Many insurers tend to blame the riders for being at fault without proof, so get an attorney to examine the crash before assuming your claim is barred.
How is compensation determined in light of the lifetime of artificial limbs and attendant care?
Via a life care plan. Experts forecast the expense for all future prosthetics, surgeries, treatments, and house modifications for the rest of your life, and an economist determines the value of lost earning potential. Since there is no cap on such damages in Virginia in an ordinary personal injury action, this accounting makes up the biggest portion of a catastrophic injury claim.
What if a commercial truck caused the crash?
In cases involving trucks, multiple people may be at fault, including the driver, the trucking company itself, and possibly an outside maintenance company. The preservation of data from the truck is vital, as some records required by federal law are allowed to be thrown out in just a few months.
What is the statute of limitations in Virginia?
Usually, two years after the date of the incident for an injury claim. However, when the case is a serious one, the process of investigating starts well ahead of this deadline, as the proof of liability and damages may disappear within weeks after the accident.
I have not finished treatment. Should I settle now?
Not usually. If you settle prior to attaining maximum medical improvement, then you risk agreeing on a figure without knowing how much your treatment is really going to cost and once you’ve settled, you can’t come back later and change that figure.
What does a motorcycle injury lawyer cost?
There’s nothing upfront. Contingency is how these cases are handled, meaning there won’t be any costs until there’s a settlement, and the initial consultation is free of charge.
