Author Topic: Safety Strategies - 3306  (Read 1694 times)

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VersysRider

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Safety Strategies - 3306
« on: September 08, 2014, 08:07:46 PM »
Doug Westly | Safety Editor

IMPORTANT NOTICE: Ultimately, the safety of motorcycle riders and their passengers is their own responsibility. Nothing presented in the column supersedes, negates or relieves a motorcyclist and/or passenger from assumption of personal responsibility for their actions and safety.

Motorcycle Crash Statistics

This month I thought I would throw out some of the latest statistics. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHSTA) usually runs about a year or two behind on releasing crash information. Here are the statistics and information for 2011. There is some preliminary data available for 2012, but the 2011 information is more complete.

The latest report shows that 4,612 motorcyclists died in 2011 in the U.S. This according to NHTSA is a 2% increase in rider fatalities over 2010.

The overall figure of 4,612 deaths also includes other types of bikes (scooters, three wheelers, mopeds, mini bikes, pocket bikes and off-roaders) so the actual two-wheel motorcycle fatality number for 2011 is 4323.

What’s not clear in the findings is if the number of motorcycle riders actually grew too from 2010 to 2011. A total of 8,009,503 ‘motorcycles’ (including scooters, trikes etc) were registered in 2010 but this increased by nearly 5% in 2011 to 8,437,502. So if we had a 5% increase in registrations but “only” a 2% increase in rider fatalities, does that mean the actual number of fatalities by percentage was up or down from the
year before?

Interestingly, injuries from crashes involving motorcycles were down in 2011 with 81,000 recorded compared to 82,000 the previous year.

Also according to the findings, 2,449 (49%) of all fatal motorcycle crashes were the result of a bike colliding with another vehicle. Only 6% of deaths in 2011 were due to a bike being hit from behind.

More than 42% (1,998) of motorcyclists killed in 2011 were in a two vehicle accident and 38% (757) of these were the result of another vehicle turning left in front of the motorcycle that was either going straight, passing or overtaking another vehicle.

NHTSA claims that of all motorcycle deaths in 2011, 35% (1,614) were the direct result of the rider speeding. This according to its research and data is a substantially higher death toll than any other vehicle type on the roads – 22% for cars, 19 % for trucks and 8% for large trucks. Think about this one for a while.

Riders of bikes with 501-1000cc engines accounted for 39% of all 2011 fatalities and also represented the highest increase of overall fatalities (25%) from when NHTSA first started recording this information in 2002. Older motorcyclists (40 years and up) account for 75% of all motorcyclists’ deaths over this 10-year period with 42-years-old now the average age of a motorcycle rider killed on the U.S. roads in a traffic crash. As our riding demographic ages, so does the average age of motorcycle fatalities.

Also, 22% of riders involved in fatal crashes in 2011 did not have a valid motorcycle license and were 1.4 times more likely than a car driver to have a previous license suspension or revocation.

Now for the really scary part. 42% of motorcycle riders who died in single vehicle crashes in the U.S. in 2011 had blood alcohol levels (BAC) of 0.8g/dL or higher. The 40-44 year-old age group accounted for 38% of these deaths, while the 45-49 and 35-39 age groups were each at 37%.

NHTSA figures also show that in 2011, motorcycle riders killed at night were nearly three times more likely to have BAC levels of 0.8 g/dL or higher than riders who were killed during the day.

Across the U.S. in 2011, Texas had the most motorcycle fatalities with 441 riders killed and 37% of these had 0.8g/ dl BAC readings or higher. Florida was second with 426 riders killed and 34% impaired by drinking and riding and California third with 386 of which 22% of riders who died were under the influence of alcohol. Mississippi and Ohio may have had fewer rider deaths in 2011 at 53 and 157 respectively but both states had the nation’s highest percentage of alcohol-impaired deaths at 40% of all motorcycle fatalities. (Vermont was actually higher at 63% but
with only eight riders killed in 2011).

NHTSA’s figures also show that in 2011 of the 4000 plus motorcycle riders killed on the roads in the U.S. 40% were not wearing a helmet. And based upon all 2011 motorcycle crash information NHTSA estimates that 1,617 lives of riders were saved by wearing a helmet and a further 703 may have survived if they had been wearing a helmet. This data makes no distinction between types of helmets (full or open face).

However, the staggering number in all of NHTSA’s research is that of the 4,323 motorcyclists killed in 2011, 33% (1426) of the riders were under the influence of alcohol. That’s almost 1 in 3 fatal motorcycle accidents attributed to drinking and riding. Wow. Just don’t do it. Don’t let friends drink and ride either. It’s not worth it.

That’s it. There is enough information in the NHSTA data to keep us busy for a while, just digesting and applying it to our sporting genre.

The bottom line is that all these statistics point out the various factors that go into motorcycle risk management. As riders, it is up to each of us to evaluate the risks and plan our riding accordingly.

Ride Safe!
Doug Westly

Sources: rideapart.com, NHSTA.

Offline OldButNotDead

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Re: Safety Strategies - 3306
« Reply #1 on: April 14, 2017, 07:53:39 AM »
Just read the Safety Strategies - New Crash Study is Out!   I've watched crash studies for a long time.  Doug made some very valid observations and wrote a good article, BUT the VTTI study is in my opinion seriously flawed.  I know how to run an experiment and have been producing thematic maps to support all kinds of projects for fifty years and the methods used in this study don't support general nationwide trends.  Yes, there are no clean statistics available.  Yes, the Hurt Report is WAY out of date.  NHSTA relies on state data and every state collects data differently.  Most states can't even be compared to another because they don't ask the same questions about the crash.  As Doug points out, the study base is way too small.  The use of volunteers is also flawed.  Choosing 100 riders and just watching them?  Think about that.  That group puts lots of limits on the outcome and corrupts data.  What kind of riders are they?  How long have they ridden?  What kind of bikes do they ride?  How old are they?  What is their personality profile?  There are a zillion of these questions about that group.  The only viable way to collect this data is on a totally random group.  That's what you get if you use all crashes or enough of them to be statistically representative.   The only way to really make conclusions on crashes is to take all state data and normalize it.  That is to get enough fields from all state reports that are similar and make them kinda sorta equivalent.  The other answer, the best in my opinion, is to get NHTSA to come up with a reporting standard.
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Offline bcd

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Re: Safety Strategies - 3306
« Reply #2 on: April 14, 2017, 08:45:51 AM »
You point out valid problems with the study. I agree that standardized reporting across states would greatly improve the utility of NHTSA statistics.

But I do think you miss one thing. The VTTI study is also a study of rider behavior, not just a crash study. While it certainly suffers from self-selection, I think it may very well still demonstrate trends in risky behaviors; things like rider attention, speed and braking measurements, and so on. This information can be used to inform the design of better studies down the line.

As you say, it's critically important to recognize the flaws in research and be sure your interpretation of the results takes them into account. I also think it's important to do the best research you can given the limitations of technology, funding and regulation. The fact that we can't put telemetry on everyone's motorcycle whether they like it or not should not stop us from doing any research at all.
==BD

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Offline OldButNotDead

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Re: Safety Strategies - 3306
« Reply #3 on: April 14, 2017, 04:55:30 PM »
I beg to differ on the point about rider behavior.   100 subjects is even worse for that issue.  If there were way more data points with a bunch of attributes like what kind of bike, experience level, etc, etc you could build a much better behavior model.  Then again, the opinionated jerk that I am, has allowed me to formulate totally unsubstantiated data that is way better than studies.  ::)   Having observed and interacted with riders for over 50 years you have lots of data points banging around in your head.  When you look at substantiated numbers you see that younger riders still kill themselves at high rates on anything, cars, bikes, boats, planes, etc, but the per capita rate is pretty much flat.  The group in the middle, lets say 30 to early 50's has fluctuated up and down for years.  Not exactly sure when it began, but us old geezers are crashing more often every year.   What my observations say is that the older guys are buying bikes without training and/or experience.  Many had experience when younger when roads were much safer to ride on.  Many think they can relax while riding, now there is a sure fire method to get bumped off.  It's the Captain of Industry Theory.  If I can run Spacely Sprockets, I sure can ride a motorcycle without any problems.  What I am trying to say is if you have ridden for 50+ years and are still walking around, you probably have a good idea of what causes crashes and how to avoid them.
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Offline stevegrab

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Re: Safety Strategies - 3306
« Reply #4 on: April 17, 2017, 10:15:27 AM »
Could it be more older people are crashing because they are not recognizing their skills are declining and still want to be that that go fast guy?
Steve Grabowski
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