The Cause and Effect of Motorcycle Accidents (Part II)

[gfloyd2002]

In the The Cause and Effect of Motorcycle Accidents thread, I listed the Hurt Report conclusions. Dated, but still useful information about motorcycle safety. This post will list the conclusions of the 2007 National Highway Traffic Safety Administration study on fatal two-vehicle motorcycle accidents. The report doesn't contain much analysis other than reporting the statistics, but the theme is pretty clearly that motocyclists are culpable for the majority of fatal motorcycle accidents.

• In only 30 percent of two-vehicle accidents resulting in motorcylist fatality did the car driver receive a violation for contributing to the accident.
• Alcohol involvement among motorcycle operators killed was almost 2.5 times the alcohol involvement of the passenger vehicle drivers involved in these crashes. Of the alcohol involved (BAC .01+) motorcycle operators killed in these crashes 69 percent had BACs of .08+, which is above the illegal limit in all States.
• Twenty-four percent of the motorcycle operators killed in two-vehicle crashes involving passenger vehicles in 2005 had an invalid license compared to 8 percent of thepassenger vehicle drivers involved in these crashes.
• A speeding motorcycle was 7 times more common a factor in causing the accident than a speeding car. Of the motorcycle operators who were killed in two-vehicle motorcycle crashes involving passenger vehicles 27 percent were speeding at the time of the crash compared to 4 percent of the passenger vehicle drivers who were involved in these crashes.
• Of the motorcycle operators killed in two-vehicle crashes, 49 percent had previous driving records compared to 34 percent for the passenger vehicle drivers involved in these crashes.
• Related fatality factors for the motorcyclist included 27 percent cyclist driving too fast for conditions or in excess of posted speed limit, 15 percent failure to keep in proper lane or running off the road, and 5 percent operating vehicles in an erratic or reckless manner.
• For the passenger vehicle drivers involved in these crashes 35 percent of the driver-related factors were failure to yield right-of-way, 9 percent were failure to keep in proper lane or running off the road.
• Twenty-eight percent of the motorcycle operators killed in two-vehicle motorcycle crashes involving passenger vehicles were in the 20 to 29 age group, followed by 21 percent for the 40 to 49 age group and 20 percent for the 30 to 39 age group. Among motorcycle rider fatalities every year the 20 to 29 age group has the highest fatalities.
• Of the motorcycle operators killed in two-vehicle crashes involving a motorcycle and a passenger vehicle, 97 percent were males and 3 percent were females.
• Of the 1,792 two-vehicle motorcycle crashes involving passenger vehicles, 57 percent were crashes in which the vehicles crashed front-to-side, 18 percent were crashes in which the vehicles crashed into each other head on, 11 percent of the crashes were rear-end crashes and 5 percent were sideswipe crashes.
• 44% of fatal motorcycle accidents were single vehicle accidents without any car involved.

It is pretty clear to me from these statistics that we can really increase our personal safety by taking personal responsibility for it. If 30% of two-vehicle fatal motorcycle crashes involved car driver error, and 44% of fatal motorcycle accidents involve only the motorcycle, only 16% of all fatal accidents are the car driver's fault. We can cut our fatalities significantly just by being better riders. Obey the law, don't drink and ride, ride within your limits, get licensed and practice, etc.