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Got your bike? Your gloves? Your helmet? What about protection for your back, mate?
In Australia, you might be surprised to find that motorcyclists have the highest amount of spinal cord injuries, according to a report in the Sydney Morning Herald. As our firm’s San Diego spinal cord injury attorneys often have said, riding a bike — motorized or not — can be dangerous these days.
Between 2007-2008, the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare recorded 362 cases of spinal cord injuries, with numerous instances of slip and fall accidents. The report goes on to detail that about half of the trauma related injuries, of which there were on 77 that were considered “non-trauma”, could be attributed to car accidents.
The report indicates that Australia’s rate of spinal cord injuries each year has remained the same for the last three years, with the causes and demographics shifting ever so slighty. In 81 cases logged in the 2007-2008 report, spinal cord injuries were the result of slip and fall accidents and of those slip and falls, 64% traveled more than a meter before injuring themselves.
Injured persons were mainly males between the ages of 15-34, with close-to-paralyzing accidents happening on the streets, highways, and also “off-road bike trails, beaches and farms.” There are many ways to prevent spinal cord injuries from happening, namely through the use of protective gear, but the report documented close to 49% of the injured persons as being unprotected on the road.
Our firm’s paralysis lawyers know that there are a number of ways to cause paralysis and spinal cord injuries, not just getting on the back of a bike. Take percautions when walking on stairs or across wet surfaces. Always buckle up while traveling in a car. And finally, never put yourself directly into a situation where you could fall, say, nearing the edge of the roof.
Hopefully Australians can have less accidents next year and more people who are not living with paralysis of some form or another.
If you or a loved one have been involved in an accident and suffered a spinal cord injury or paralysis, we urge you to contact our bilingual offices as soon as possible following the accident at 1-858-551-2090 or please click here for a FREE consultation with an experienced paralysis lawyer in San Diego. We handle all cases on a contingency fee basis, which means that you owe us nothing until we recover money on your behalf.
SENIOR PERSONAL INJURY ATTORNEY & FIRM FOUNDER
Michael Pines is a former insurance company attorney who graduated from the University of California Hastings College of the Law in 1987. While he was an insurance attorney, he learned from behind the scenes how insurance companies work and how they decide how much to pay injured people. Now that he works against insurance companies, Michael’s inside knowledge has resulted in significant benefits to his clients injured in car accidents. Learn more about Michael Pines