Background on: Motorcycle crashes

Overview

Motorcyclists are more vulnerable on the road and are more likely to be injured or killed than car occupants. Motorcycle crashes cost billions of dollars per year in direct costs such as emergency services, medical costs including rehabilitation, property damage, loss of market productivity including lost wages, loss in household productivity and insurance costs, including claims and the cost of defense attorneys.

Motorcycle Crashes: Fatalities and Injuries

• Motorcyclists are much more likely than passenger car occupants to die or become injured in a crash.
• Older riders appear to sustain more serious injuries than younger riders.  A Brown University study cited declines in vision and reaction time, along with the larger-sized bikes that older riders favor, which tend to roll over more often, and the increased fragility among older people as the causes.

Motorcycle Crashes: Driver Behavior

• Alcohol use is a major factor in motorcycle crashes.  Alcohol impaired motorcycle riders are also less likely to use helmets.
• Speeding is another major factor in fatal crashes.

Motorcycle Crashes: Insurance Claims

• A  Highway Loss Data Institute report shows that supersport motorcycles had the highest relative overall collision losses when compared with nine other motorcycle classes.
• Based on collision coverage results for 2011 to 2015 model motorcycles insured under private passenger motorcycle policies, relative overall losses for super sport models were indexed at 352, compared with 100 for all motorcycles.
• The high overall losses for supersport models were driven up by their high claim frequency.

Motorcycle Crashes: Economic Losses

• A study from the Government Accounting Office (GAO) shows that motorcycle crashes cost $16 billion in direct costs in 2010 such as emergency services, medical costs including rehabilitation, property damage, loss of market productivity including lost wages, loss in household productivity and insurance costs, including claims and the cost of defense attorneys.
• The GAO found that market productivity loss produced the largest cost, 44 percent of total costs, followed by medical costs, at 18 percent. Other costs such as long-term medical costs were not included.
• The GAO recommends that NHTSA grants to states for motorcycle safety be expanded from motorcyclist training and motorist awareness efforts to include programs that increase helmet use, safety awareness and educating police about motorcycle safety.
• In addition, the GAO urges NHTSA to identify research priorities, conduct research on promising strategies, implement a graduated licensing model (See also Background On: Teen Drivers) and encourage motorcyclists to improve their visibility to other motorists. 

Motorcycle Crashes: Safety

• Motorcycle Helmets: Helmets have been shown to be very effective in preventing deaths and reducing injuries in motorcycle riders.
• ​Training Courses: The Motorcycle Safety Foundation sponsored by motorcycle manufacturers and distributors, works with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), state governments and other organizations to improve motorcycle safety through education, training and licensing. The organization also works with the states to integrate rider safety and skills in licensing tests. It promotes safety by recommending motorcycle operators wear protective gear, especially helmets, ride sober and ride within their skill limits. Riders who complete approved safety courses may be eligible for insurance discounts. The discounts are mandatory in some states.
• Antilock Braking Systems (ABS): Stopping a motorcycle is more complex than stopping a car. Motorcycles have separate brakes for the front and rear wheels, and braking hard can lock the wheels and cause the bike to overturn. Not braking hard enough can put the rider into harm’s way. With ABS, a rider can brake fully without fear of locking up. The system automatically reduces brake pressure when a lockup is about to occur and increases it again after traction is restored. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) reports that the rate of crashes is significantly lower for motorcycles equipped with optional antilock brakes than for the same models without them.
• Motorcycle Helmet Use Laws: Less than half of all states have laws that require all motorcyclists to wear helmets, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Some states require that only people under a specific age wear helmets (see chart). A National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) study covering 10 states found that when universal helmet laws, which pertain to all riders, were repealed, helmet use rates dropped from 99 percent to 50 percent. In states where the universal law was reinstated, helmet use rates rose to above 95 percent.

Charts and Graphs

Additional resources

Insurance Institute for Highway Safety

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration 

The Motorcycle Safety Foundation

The Motorcycle Industry Council

Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety

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