Motorcycle Crashes Continue To Increase

Motorcycle injuries and deaths continue to rise as more people utilize motorcycles and scooters for daily transportation. The Washington Post reports that in an eight-hour span over the Labor Day weekend motorcycle accidents in the metropolitan District of Columbia area left four people dead. One top transportation official calls the rise in motorcycle crashes “our nation’s greatest traffic highway safety challenge.”
While only 2 percent of all vehicles on the nation’s roads last year were motorcycles, they were involved in 11 percent of all traffic accidents. More than 5,100 riders were killed and 103,000 injured, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Deaths have more than doubled over the last ten years. During this same time, overall traffic fatalities dropped last year to their lowest level since 1994. Some attribute this overall decline to safer cars and less travel due to gasoline prices.
The number of registered motorcycles and scooters in the United States is nearly 7 million. Sales of new motorcycles rose every year between 1992 and 2006 and now tops more than a million annually.
In response, the U.S. Department of Transportation, is formulating national standards for entry-level riders and has launched an educational campaign on the importance of wearing helmets and other safety gear. Congress has also become involved, authorizing $2 million for a study of crashes’ causes.