Male motorcycle riders numbered among the highest demographic of people living with spinal cord injuries in Australia. The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare reported that 362 cases of spinal cord injury occurred in Australia in 2007 and 2008. The report described the causes and gave a statistical analysis of the spinal cord injury occurrences and circumstances.
Out of 362 spinal cord injuries, just 77 were due to non-trauma based situations including cancer, infections, and bone diseases. Of the remaining 285 cases, about half of them involved vehicle accidents. Of that half, ‘the report states 51% of transport incidents involved motor vehicle occupants, while 49% were unprotected road users, mostly motorcyclists, pre-dominantly male, with over half young in the 15 to 34 years age group. Forming the youngest group, motorcyclists had an average age of 32 years,’ an article in theSydney Morning Herald reported.
The remaining spinal cord injuries that occurred happened due to a wide range of activities including surfing, diving, swimming, running into another person or an object, playing football, bike racing, and horseback riding, a Top News article mentioned. Another 81 of the injuries were caused by falls, with over half of them falling 3.5 feet or more.
The average time spent in the hospital by spinal cord injury patients was a little over four months before being released. ‘The report noted that the overall rates and causes of spinal cord injuries, and the characteristics of the people affected remained generally the same as previous years,’ an International Business Times article added.
References:
International Business Times Staff. (March 11, 2010) ‘Spinal Injury rate is high among young bikers.’ Retrieved on March 23, 2010 from the International Business Times Web site:http://ibtimes.com.au/contents/20100310/spinal-cord-injury.htm
Mukherjee, Ketan. (March 11, 2010) ‘Spinal cord injuries more common in bikers.’ Retreived on March 23, 2010 from the Top News Web site: http://topnews.net.nz/content/22616-spinal-cord-injuries-more-common-bikers
Rose, Danny. (March 11, 2010) ‘Bikers dominate spinal cord injuries.’ Retrieved on March 23, 2010 from the Sydney Morning Herald Web site: http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/bikers-dominate-spinal-cor…
Tomova, Anna. (March 11, 2010) ‘Motorcyclists Dominate Spinal Cord Injuries.’ Retrieved on March 23, 2010 from the Visit Bulgaria Web site: http://visitbulgaria.info/12839-motorcyclists-dominate-spinal-cord-injuries