FATALITY FACTS:
MOTORCYCLES
as of November 2002

Research published in 1995 shows that five crash types account for 86 percent of fatal motorcycle crashes: motorcycle runs off road (41 percent), motorcycle or other vehicle runs traffic control (18 percent), head on (11 percent), car turns in front of cycle (8 percent), and motorcycle goes down in roadway (7 percent).

Because serious head injury is common among fatally injured motorcyclists, helmet use is important. In states that require all riders to wear helmets, use approaches 100 percent compared with about 50 percent in other states. Yet only 20 states mandate helmet use by all riders. Death rates from head injuries have been shown to be twice as high among motorcyclists in states with no helmet laws or laws that apply only to young riders, compared with states where laws apply to all riders. In the last few years several states have repealed or weakened their helmet laws. In 1997, helmet laws in Texas and Arkansas were weakened to only apply to younger riders. Kentucky weakened its law in 1998, Louisiana weakened its law in 1999, and Florida weakened its law in 2000. Repealing or weakening helmet laws so they don't apply to all riders has been followed in a number of states by increases in deaths. In contrast, benefits return when helmet laws applying to all riders are reinstated.

Helmets are about 29 percent effective in preventing motorcycle deaths and about 67 percent effective in preventing brain injuries. An unhelmeted rider is 40 percent more likely to suffer a fatal head injury, compared with a helmeted rider.

The following facts are based on analysis of data from the U.S. Department of Transportation's Fatality Analysis Reporting System:

• 3,109 motorcyclists died in crashes in 2001. Motorcycle deaths had been declining since the 1980s but began to increase in 1998 and have increased further in 1999, 2000, and 2001. Since 1997, motorcycle deaths are up 51 percent.

• There were 68 deaths per 100,000 registered motorcycles in 2001 compared with 16 deaths per 100,000 in cars.

• Twenty-five percent of all fatally injured motorcycle drivers in 2001 didn't have valid licenses to operate their motorcycles.

AGE AND GENDER

• Ninety-one percent of motorcyclists killed in 2001 were males.

• Sixty-nine percent of the females who died in a motorcycle crash in 2001 were passengers. Ninety-nine percent of males who died were drivers.

• Thirty-nine percent of motorcyclists killed in 2001 were 40 years old or older compared with fourteen percent in 1990. Deaths of 16-29 year old motorcyclists has declined from 59 percent in 1990 to 34 percent in 2001.

• Deaths among motorcyclists ages 40 and older started to rise in 1993 and in 2001 are almost 3 times as high. For other ages deaths started climbing in 1998.

CRASH TYPES

• Forty-five percent of motorcycle deaths in 2001 occurred in single-vehicle crashes, and 55 percent occurred in multiple-vehicle crashes.

• Forty-one percent of deaths in single-vehicle motorcycle crashes in 2001 involved drivers with blood alcohol concentrations at or above 0.08 percent.

WHEN THEY DIED

• Seventy-one percent of 2001 motorcycle deaths occurred during April-September. They peaked in July and were lowest in January.

• Fifty-nine percent of 2001 motorcycle deaths occurred on weekends (Friday-Sunday).

• Forty-seven percent of 2001 motorcycle deaths occurred between 6 pm and 3 am.

• More than half of motorcycle deaths occur on major roads and freeways.

REFERENCES
¹National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. 2002. Traffic safety facts, 2001. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Transportation.

²Preusser, D.F.; Williams, A.F.; and Ulmer, R.G. 1995. Analysis of fatal motorcycle crashes: crash typing. Accident Analysis and Prevention 27:845-51.

³National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Without motorcycle helmets, we all pay the price. Available: http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/people/injury/pedbimot/safebike/index.html.

⁴Sosin, D.M.; Sacks, J.J.; and Holmgreen, P. 1990. Head injury-associated deaths from motorcycle crashes: relationship to helmet use laws. Journal of the American Medical Association 264:2395-99.

⁵Hartunian, N.S.; Smart, C.N.; Willemain, T.R.; and Zador, P.L. 1983. The economics of safety deregulation: lives and dollars lost due to repeal of motorcycle helmet laws. Journal of Health Politics, Policy, and Law 8:76-98.

⁶Watson, G.S.; Zador, P.L.; and Wilks, A. 1980. The repeal of helmet use laws and increased motorcyclist mortality in the USA: 1975-1978. American Journal of Public Health 70:579-85.

⁷Watson, G.S.; Zador, P.L.; and Wilks, A. 1981. Helmet use, helmet use laws, and motorcyclist fatalities. American Journal of Public Health 71:297-300.

⁸Preusser, D.F.; Hedlund, J.H.; and Ulmer, R.G. 2000. Evaluation of motorcycle helmet law repeal in Arkansas and Texas. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Transportation.

⁹McSwain, N.E.; Willey, A.; and Janke, T.H. 1985. The impact of reenactment of the motorcycle helmet law in Louisiana. Proceedings of the 29th Annual Conference of the American Association for Automotive Medicine, 425-46. Arlington Heights, IL: American Association for Automotive Medicine.

¹⁰National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. 1984. The impact of reenactment of the motorcycle helmet law in Louisiana. Report no. DOT HS 806 760. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Transportation.

¹¹National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. 1996. Motorcycle helmets: the facts of life. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Transportation.