When a car or truck collides with a motorcycle, the motorcyclist usually gets the worst of it. With nothing between them and the pavement, motorcyclists can suffer injuries even in minor or low-speed collisions. This happened recently on Billings’ South Side, when the operator of a small motorcycle or moped was hit by a car in what appears to have been a distracted driver accident.
The accident happened early in the morning at the intersection of South 27th Street and First Avenue South. According to a Billings police officer, an automobile driver was inattentive and ran a red light, striking the bike in the intersection. The officer said the car was moving very slowly at the time of the crash; nonetheless the motorcyclist sustained minor injuries. The car’s driver received a citation for running the light.
Although the motorcyclist’s injuries were described as minor in this case, so-called minor injuries can often have long-term effects. Injuries to the soft tissues of the back and neck, for example, may seem minor at first but often become more severe in the weeks and months following the accident.
For this reason it is always a good idea for injured accident victims to seek medical attention as soon after the accident as possible, even if their injuries do not appear serious. If symptoms worsen with time, there will then be a contemporaneous medical record linking the injuries to the crash. This can be critical if the accident victim needs to pursue compensation for their medical expenses, lost income, and pain and suffering at a later date.
Source: Billings Gazette, “Minor injuries reported in motorcycle crash,” Clair Johnson, May 15, 2015