Motorcyclist Traffic Fatalities by State: 2013 Preliminary Data

U.S. motorcyclist fatalities are projected to drop in 2013, according to a new analysis of preliminary state data.

The report, Spotlight on Highway Safety , released on Tuesday by the Governors Highway Safety Association, a nonprofit organization representing state highway safety offices, noted that despite the projected 7 percent decrease in rider deaths compared with 2012, overall motorcyclist safety has not improved in fifteen years; 2013 is only the second year in that time that motorcycle fatalities will have dropped.

The results, based on motorcyclist fatality counts reported to the association by all 50 states and the District of Columbia for the first nine months of 2013, indicated that motorcycle fatalities are projected up in 13 states, down in 35 states and the District of Columbia, and to remain the same in two states compared with the first nine months of 2012.

Dr. James Hedlund of Highway Safety North, a former senior official with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), authored the report. Weather was the biggest factor to explain the drop in fatalities from 2012 to 2013, the report said: the first six months of 2012 were unusually warm and dry across the nation, prompting an uptick in ridership, which led to increased fatalities; 2013 was cooler and wetter in the first nine months, when motorcycle travel and fatalities dropped in many states.

“Long-term gains in motorcyclist safety won’t occur because riders are deterred by bad weather, but from consistent use of proven countermeasures,” Kendell Poole, the association’s chairman and director of the Tennessee Office of Highway Safety, said in a statement.

Motorcycles are still far more risky than passenger vehicles, the report said. In 2011, motorcyclists accounted for six times more fatalities per vehicle registration than passenger vehicles. Several proven solutions for further reducing motorcycle fatalities, particularly requiring all riders to wear a helmet, were recommended.

“By far, helmets are the single most effective way to prevent serious injury and death in the event of a motorcycle crash. But states are going backward when it comes to enacting this proven, lifesaving countermeasure,” Poole said.

Only 19 states and D.C. currently have universal helmet laws and the recent trend among states has been a push to repeal helmet laws. Another 28 states require helmet use by riders younger than age 18 or 21, and three states have no requirement. According to NHTSA, in 2012, there were 10 times as many unhelmeted motorcyclist fatalities in states without universal helmet laws, compared to states with universal helmet laws, and nationwide, helmet use dropped to 60 percent in 2012, down from 66 percent in 2011, according to the report.

In addition to increasing helmet use by adopting universal helmet laws, the report recommended that states: employ measures that will help reduce alcohol impairment and speeding, improve access to motorcycle training, and ensure that motorcyclists are properly licensed. (The motorcycle license test prompts riders to complete a training course; by encouraging licensing, states encourage training, the association said.)

To read the full report, click here.