The Injury Study: An epidemiological study of injuries sustained in motorcycle crashes in Tasmania 2012-2016

This report describes a population-based study of the injuries sustained in motorcycle crashes in Tasmania over the five-year period (2012-2016). The analysis is based on de-identified data from injury claims to the Tasmanian government compulsory third-party (CTP) insurance scheme. The aim was to establish the types and prevalence of non-fatal injuries sustained in motorcycle crashes. Over half of all claims related to one or two injuries, most commonly involving the upper and lower limbs and injuries that may be reduced or prevented by protective clothing. The average cost of a claim was $28,292 with a median of $4,420. There was a substantial difference in the costs by crash type, with multi-vehicle crashes costing, on average, almost three times as much as a single vehicle crash ($48,102 vs $16,466). The head was the least frequently injured body region, involving just 15% of claims, however over half (54%) of those claims involved brain injury and 40% facial injuries. Facial injuries included 82% of all fracture injuries to the head/face region. These findings provide strong evidence to discourage the use of open-face helmets, but also a need to establish standards for the energy absorption requirements of the chin bars in full-face helmet. The upper body (excluding head and hands) was represented in 52% of all claims, including high proportions with fractures (43%), internal organ (35%), soft tissue 41% and open wounds 33%. Overall claims involving injuries to the upper body accounted for 43% of all the major injuries sustained by claimants. The lower body (excluding feet/ankles) represented a similar proportion of all claims but with a very different distribution of injury types compared to the upper body. There were fewer major injuries (26%) of any type, and fewer fractures or injuries to soft tissue or internal organs but more open wounds and bruises. The hands and wrists represented the body region with the third highest frequency in injury claims (27%), after leg/knee and arm/shoulder. The wrists (36%) and palms (33%) were the most frequent injury sites in claims for this body region, with the wrists accounting for 47% of the fractures, whereas the palms sustained 71% of all open wounds. The risk of open wound and soft tissue injuries may be substantially reduced by gloves fitted with impact protection to the knuckles and palms including palm sliders. However, more research is required to identify the means of reducing the risk of fractures particularly to the wrists. Injuries to the feet and ankles were represented in 20% of all claims and were the main injury for 9.5% of all claimants. The ankles sustained 52% of all injuries to this area, including the majority of soft tissue injuries (73%) and 42% of fractures. Whereas the feet (including toes) sustained 48% of injuries including 58% of fractures and 27% soft tissue injuries. While information as to the type of footwear worn by participants was not available for this study, there is evidence that many riders wear sports shoes despite a substantially higher risk of injuries to the feet and ankles compared to boots. Recommendations are made in relation to research and development of protective equipment to address the most prevalent and debilitating injuries identified.