After a low in 1997, motorcycle accident fatality and serious injury rates have been increasing sharply. The Galveston motorcycle accident lawyers at Denena Points, PC note that motorcycle ridership has increased slightly over the past couple of decades, but motorcycles still represent less than 5% of registered vehicles on U.S. roads. Reports from 2012 and 2013 document an alarming number of fatal motorcycle crashes.
The U.S. NHTSA compilation of annual statistics related to motorcycle accident fatalities and injuries shows that in 2010 (the most recent year for which they’ve compiled this report), a total of 4,502 motorcyclists died in their crashes and 82,000 received injuries, an increase over 2009 rates. The highest numbers of fatal and serious injury crashes for the decade were in the years 2007 and 2008. Other important numbers from the report include:
Motorcycle accident fatalities increased by 41% in the decade from 2001 to 2010. The fatality rate went up from 39% to 56% for bikers aged 40 and older in that same time period. That means that the fatality rate for this age group went up a full 100% just in one decade.
Motorcyclists accounted for 14% of driver fatalities and 16% of passenger fatalities in 2010. But our Galveston motorcycle accident lawyers emphasize that motorcycles made up only 3% of all registered U.S. vehicles and only 0.6% of all vehicle miles traveled. So bikers clearly suffer disproportionate numbers of fatal crash injuries.
NHTSA data reveals that motorcyclists are about 30 times more likely to suffer a fatal crash than passenger vehicle occupants. Bikers were also 5 times more likely to receive injuries in a crash than car or light truck occupants.
Collisions with other vehicles accounted for 51% of all fatal motorcycle crashes in 2010. 75% of the collisions were front-end crashes for the motorcycles. Of the 1,999 bike collisions with other vehicles, 770 (39%) involved the other vehicle suddenly turning left in front of the motorcycle, for example by failing to yield right-of-way.
The U.S. NHTSA estimated that helmets saved the lives of about 1,550 bikers in 2010 and that 706 additional motorcyclists could have been saved had they worn helmets. The agency says that helmets are between 37% and 41% effective in saving the lives of motorcycle riders and passengers involved in crashes. Our Galveston motorcycle accident lawyers point out that this means that for every 100 un-helmeted bikers who died from crashes, an additional 37 to 41 of them might have lived had they worn helmets at the time of the accidents.
66% of the motorcyclists who died in states without universal helmet laws in crashes in 2010 were not wearing helmets. Only 10% of those killed in states with universal helmet laws were not wearing helmets.
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