This is a sampling of what I review every day to keep abreast of motorcycle accidents across the United States.  What you see below is a list of accidents generated by a Goggle alert for motorcycle accidents in the U.S. generated for August 13, 2008.  The sheer number of motorcycle accidents never ceases to amaze me.  I thought you might be interested in what is going on across the nation.

Texas: Granite Shoals Police Chief J.P. Wilson was in critical condition suffering from brain injury as a result of a motorcycle crash over the weekend. A woman reportedly pulled out in front of Wilson causing the crash.

Brain injury is one of the most devastating injuries that arise from motorcycle accidents.  The brain is shook violently within the skull encountering what is termed cout and counter-cout - a severe slamming of the delicate brain against the inside of the skull.  A helmet will help with decreasing the effect of the impact on the brain but a helmet does not always remove all of the risk. 

Oregon:  A woman who died in a motorcycle accident Sunday on Interstate 5 near the Terwilliger exit, has been identified as Terri Lee Young, the director of administration at Renaissance Homes.  Young, a Sherwood resident, lost control of her motorcycle for unknown reasons Sunday afternoon on I-5 and slammed into a traffic barrier near the Terwilliger exit, Portland police said. 

Construction areas are dangerous for motorcycles .  Whenever I read a story like that above I can not help but wonder about the road conditions.  Motorcyclists just do not simply lose control of their rides for no reason.  There may have been sand or gravel on the roadway or the road itself may have been uneven with sharp drop-offs. 

Concussions are in the news - for a couple of reasons. 

Sports players, especially football players suffer concussions.  When one helmet cracks against another it imparts an amazing amount of force.  Many athletes have been sidelined from concussions .  Not usually from one concussion but from successive concussions.  Once the brain has been rattled it appears to become more susceptible to further trauma .  Rushing back into the game can be the worst thing to do because the brain needs time to heal. Also the younger you are the more susceptible you are to further brain damage from concussion.

All of this has at least three important ramifications for motorcycle riders. 

1. First you should recognize that if you have suffered a concussion recently you should probably stay off your bike for at least a week.  This is so because your equilibrium may be sluggish and your thought processes slowed.
2. Second, if you have ever had a concussion, and I do not know many motorcycle riders who have not, you should wear a helmet.  You should wear a helmet because further concussions have a synergistic or compounding effect.  What this means is that the first concussion reduces your mental capability by let's say 5 percent.  If you another concussion which was exactly the same as the first concussion your mental capability will not be reduced by another 5% but by some higher percentage.

Whether we all should wear helmets or not is a topic for another post and you can see my opinion on motorcycle helmets here.  Whether you wear a helmet or not head injury is a very real possibility as a result of a motorcycle crash.

Motorcycle crash statistics are complicated.  They are complicated because oftentimes when a motorcycle driver is injured in a crash they are not discretely injured.  That is to say that oftentimes an injured motorcycle rider often suffers multiple trauma.  When a motorcyclist is involved in a crash they will often have broken bones, blunt force trauma to their torso and possibly other injuries including neck and / or head injuries. Motorcycle accidents are multifactorial.  This makes the statistical analysis difficult at best and makes the matter foggy.  

Is there any doubt that brain injury is a horrible injury?  There are many excellent web resources that discuss brain injury.  The effects can be short term but are often more long term and sometimes permanent.  From my perspective I would much rather have to spend months in a hospital suffering pain day after day than have to endure a severe brain injury.  That is why I wear a helmet.  Some of the best links are:

• Brain Injury Association of America 
• Brain Injury Resource Center
• Traumatic  Brain Injury Resource Guide

If you are in a large city and have a University Hospital near you they deal with people suffering from brain injury on a daily basis.  They have good information and opportunity to volunteer as well.  If any of you are looking for a good charity to build a bike rally around they can always do with more money to help those in need.

The Utah Legislature recently announced that they are helping to fund a program to help brain injured people.