In a motorcycle crash, a motorcycle operator’s knees often sustain a direct, forceful impact. This generally occurs when a motorcyclist is t-boned by another vehicle or is ejected from his or her bike and lands on the hard pavement or other object. As a result, knee injuries are some of the most common motorcycle accident injuries.
When a strong force is applied on the knee, damage typically occurs to the ligaments of the knee such as the posterior cruciate ligament (PCL), anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), and medial collateral ligament (MCL). While it doesn’t take a lot of force to tear an MCL or ACL, it does take a strong, blunt force trauma to cause a PCL injury. This is why the PCL is the least-torn ligament in the knee.
Because the PCL is the strongest of the ligaments found in the knee, it takes a powerful impact for this ligament to tear. However, when it does, it is very likely that other injuries occur alongside a PCL tear. In fact, a PCL injury is usually not an isolated injury. This means that when motorcyclists suffer PCL injuries, they may have sustained other ligament injuries, cartilage and meniscus injuries, and bone damage to the knee.
While any injury to the knee can be painful and inconvenient, a PCL tear can actually cause a person the inability to place weight on the injured leg and walk normally due to the fact that the PCL connects the femur to the tibia and supports the knee. When a PCL tear occurs, it needs to be treated properly.
Typical treatment for a PCL tear is rebuilding the ligament through arthroscopic surgery, in which a surgeon replaces the torn ligament with a tissue graft. Following surgery, victims will need to walk with crutches and undergo weeks of physical therapy before returning to walk on the injured leg.
If you suffered a PCL injury in combination with an ACL tear or other knee injuries, you may have a slow recovery that could last anywhere between six months to a year or more. Because you quite possibly won’t be able to drive or work during this time, you will need to make sure you are getting the most compensation when dealing with the insurance company.
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