A Road Rash Overview

Monday Feb. 7th, 2022


You might have heard the phrase “road rash” before. It sounds innocuous. However, this can be a very painful injury, and we’ll talk about it a little in the following article. We’ll cover what it is, some complications that sometimes come with it, and a few ways to avoid it.

What Exactly is Road Rash?

Road rash is a painful condition. If you slide along the ground and remove clothing and skin layers, road rash is the result.

It can happen if you’re walking or riding your bike and a vehicle hits you and knocks you down. If you’re riding a motorcycle and slide along the ground, though, that’s when you can get far worse cases that can occasionally even threaten your life.

A car hitting a pedestrian, cyclist, or someone on a motorcycle can cause it, but you should also know that nothing needs to hit you for you to suffer road rash. You might also have to deal with it if you lose control while cycling or riding a motorcycle. For instance, if you’re on a motorcycle and hit some ice or gravel, falling off and sliding makes road rash pretty likely.

Road Rash Complications

Depending on a road rash case’s severity, you might walk away from the incident relatively okay. You can clean out the damaged skin with warm water and antibacterial soap. Then, you can put some antiseptic ointment on it and bandage it up. It will hurt, but if you only took off the first skin layer, it should heal within a few weeks.

Road rash is more of an issue if you take off multiple skin layers. Motorcycle wrecks often cause this. You will deal with much more intense pain, but you also have to watch out for infection. That happens if bacteria enter your body.

If you see a doctor after falling off your bike or motorcycle and sustaining road rash, they will clean the wound very carefully, which should prevent infection. They might also want you to take antibiotics in some instances.

Scars and Traumatic Tattoos

If your body replaces the cells that the road removed, they might not have the flexibility or pliability of the skin that used to be there. If that happens, you can develop a scar.

Some people don’t like scars, and you might have some noticeable ones in extreme road rash cases. If that happens, you can treat the skin with creams that contain vitamin E.

Traumatic tattoos are also possible. This happens when debris sticks in your dermis, your second skin layer. The discoloration can stay with you for life, similar to ink when you get a tattoo.

How to Avoid Road Rash

You can often avoid road rash if you’re careful and watch out for vehicles around you. You should also watch for the road conditions on which you’re walking or riding.

It’s impossible to predict whether you might encounter a careless driver who might run into you because they’re speeding or not paying attention to where they’re going. However, you can avoid riding along busy roads on a bike. Stick to back streets without very much traffic.

If you enjoy motorcycle riding, keep to the speed limit. Avoid going out when it’s raining or snowing, as those conditions make a wreck a lot more likely.

Legal Actions if You Suffer Road Rash

If someone hits you and causes you to slide and suffer road rash, then hopefully, they will stay at the scene. Some drivers panic and flee the accident, and then you have to try and rely on traffic cameras to get their license plate number so the police can track them down.

If the person stays at the scene, but it’s clear they caused the accident, you shouldn’t yell or scream at them. Call an ambulance and the police if you can, or get a bystander to do it.

Once you get the medical attention you need, you can look into your legal options. You can usually hire a lawyer and pursue a personal injury lawsuit if you can prove the other driver culpable.

To do that, you might need eyewitness testimony, traffic camera footage, store camera footage, or anything else that backs up your event version. Some attorneys will even hire an accident scene reconstructionist who they can put on the witness stand if a case goes to trial.

Usually, it never gets that far, and the person who caused your road rash settles out of court.