Traumatic brain injuries occur when the head hits an object or something pierces the skull. It is most common among older adolescents and older adults. Trial lawyer Clayton Griessmeyer has experience representing human beings who have suffered brain injuries while riding their bicycles including concussions, bleeding in the brain, coma, and death. Trial lawyer Clayton Griessmeyer has experience working with neurosurgeons, neurologists, neuropsychologists, therapists, and social workers on bicycle injury cases to convey to insurance companies and juries the severity of brain injuries.

The majority of brain injuries in the U.S. are classified as concussions or mild traumatic brain injuries. Concussions often do not show up on normal imaging such as CT/MRI which generally show skull fractures or bleeding in the brain. The most common symptom of a concussion is headache also known as post traumatic headache. Concussions are often caused by blows to the head with acceleration and deceleration forces. Repeated concussions can cause extreme harm. Second impact syndrome happens when a person has a brain that has not healed from the first concussion and suffers another brain injury. It can result in death. Concussions usually alter a person’s mental state. There can be confusion, retrograde or anterograde amnesia, loss of consciousness and other problems related to cognition.

Neurological examinations of people who have suffered brain injury often include a glascow coma scale test (GCS). 3 is the worst score and 15 is the best. Just because a person scores 15 does not mean the person did not suffer a brain injury.

Best eye response (4)

  1. No eye opening

  2. Eye opening to pain

  3. Eye opening to sound

  4. Eyes open spontaneously

Best verbal response (5)

  1. No verbal response

  2. Incomprehensible sounds

  3. Inappropriate words

  4. Confused

  5. Orientated

Best motor response (6)

  1. No motor response.

  2. Abnormal extension to pain 

  3. Abnormal flexion to pain 

  4. Withdrawal from pain

  5. Localizing pain

  6. Obeys commands

Common issues in bike accident cases that involve brain injuries include:

  1. No objective evidence of the brain injury/CT/MRI are “normal.”

  2. Symptoms did not start until well after the initial injury.

  3. The person who suffered injury had a concussion before so the insurance company and or its lawyer claim everything was “preexisting.” In reality, successive concussions cause more harm.

  4. The insurance company may hire a neurosurgeon to claim the bicyclist who suffered brain injury is either faking the injury or has no cognitive problems.

  5. Medical treatment may take a long time to schedule and complete. In some cases an injured person may have difficulty getting an appointment with a medical provider who specializes in brain injuries or post concussion syndrome.

  6. The person riding the bicycle may not have had a helmet on and the insurance company then claims the injuries are a result of not wearing a helmet.