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Motorcycle Accident Facts

Why is motorcycle helmet use important? Because serious head injuries are common among fatally injured motorcyclists. Helmets are about 37% effective in preventing motorcycle deaths and about 67% effective in preventing brain injuries according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety Highway Loss Data Institute. Here are some more details compiled by motorcycle accident attorneys Contrada and Associates.

Overall Motorcycle Fatalities

  • Motorcycles are less stable and less visible than cars and often have high performance capabilities. When motorcycles crash, riders lack the protection of an enclosed vehicle, and are more likely to be injured or killed. Per mile traveled in 2015, the number of deaths on motorcycles was nearly 29 times the number in cars.
  • 4,976 motorcyclists died in crashes in 2016. Motorcyclist deaths had been declining since the early 1980s but began to increase in 1998 and continued to increase through 2008.

Motorcyclist Gender

  • 91% of motorcyclists killed in 2016 were males.
  • 68% of the female motorcyclists who died in crashes in 2016 were passengers, and their deaths represented 92% of the passenger deaths.

Motorcycle Helmets

  • 61% of fatally injured motorcycle drivers were helmeted in 2016. Helmet use was lower, at 44%, for people killed as passengers on motorcycles.
  • 91% of fatally injured motorcyclists in 2016 were helmeted in states with helmet laws that cover all riders, in contrast to only 27% in states with no helmet law. In states with helmet laws that cover only some riders, 40% of fatally injured motorcyclists were helmeted.

Motorcycle Engine Sizes

  • Engine sizes of motorcycles whose drivers were killed in crashes have gone up dramatically. Among motorcycle drivers killed in 2016, 33% drove motorcycles with engine sizes larger than 1,400 cc, compared with 9% in 2000 and less than 1% in 1990.
  • Among the motorcycles whose drivers were killed in 2016, 90% of touring bikes had engines larger than 1,400 cc, while virtually all super sport bikes had engines of sizes 1,000 cc or smaller.
  • Among fatally injured motorcycle drivers in 2016, 84% of cruiser or standard motorcycle drivers were 30 or older, as were 96% of touring bike drivers. In contrast, 59% of fatally injured super sport drivers in 2016 were younger than 30. 

Timing of Accidents

  • 58% of motorcyclist deaths in 2016 occurred during May-September. Fatalities peaked in July and were lowest in January.
  • 48% of motorcyclist deaths in 2016 occurred on weekends, and those deaths were more likely to occur after 6 p.m. compared with weekdays.

Source: U.S. Department of Transportation’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS)

 

A Vital Resource

The risk is high for riders, and it’s vital that you go to an experienced and dedicated law firm to represent you if you are involved in a motorcycle accident.

Get in touch with a team of veteran motorcycle accident attorneys today! If you were injured in a motorcycle accident in Northwest Ohio, call Contrada & Associates at 419.841.4400 or contact us online to set up a free consultation about your case.

Written by

Attorney Charlie Contrada has been practicing law since 1979, focusing his career on personal injury, car accident, and mesothelioma cases. Over the years, Charlie has helped thousands of clients throughout Northwest Ohio and Southeast Michigan to receive the settlements that they deserve.