Contributed by: Monty Lish, Program Manager, Evergreen Safety Council
In 2009 there were 69 Motorcycle fatalities in Washington state, of these fatalities 62 were drivers and 7 were passengers on the motorcycle. Some of the contributing factors and statistics are listed below, courtesy of the FARS report and Washington DOL.
Alcohol:
23 of 69 fatalities (33.3%) had a BAC level of .08% or above
21 of 62 Motorcycle drivers (33.9%) had a BAC level of .08% or above
Drugs:
23 of 69 Motorcycle fatalities (33.3%) were impaired by drugs
20 of 62 Motorcycle drivers (32.3%) were impaired by drugs
Helmet:
9 of 69 Motorcycle fatalities (13%) were not using helmets or used helmets improperly
9 of 62 motorcycle drivers (14.5%) were not using helmets or used helmets improperly
Endorsement:
13 of 62 Motorcycle drivers (20.9%) did not have a motorcycle endorsement
Speed:
39 of 62 motorcycle drivers (62.9%) were speeding
43 of 62 of motorcycle fatalities (69.3%) died in crashes involving speed
Training:
45 of 62 motorcycle drivers (72.5%) had no motorcycle safety training.
From these fatality statistics we see that if you are a Washington motorcyclist you can substantially reduce your risk of being involved in a fatal motorcycle accident by eliminating some of the factors like alcohol, drugs, and speeding from your riding. You also see that by doing something as simple as taking a motorcycle safety training class, like those offered by Evergreen Safety Council, could reduce your likelihood of being in a fatal motorcycle accident by over 70%.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
12 comments:
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Your analaysis doesn't include the cross-over common factors: were the drinking fatalities the same persons impaired by drugs? were the improper helmet users the drinking/drug users?
ReplyDeletewere the non-licensed drivers the improper helmet users and or speeders? And of the 69 motorcyclists that died ..the better than 27% who had motorcycle safety training...how many had drugs/alcohol/speed/improper equipment violations as factors? Finally, what percentage of your motorcyclist population does this group represent in your area? Do you have 10,000 registered motorcyclists and only 69 deaths? Do you have 100,000? Your data is suspect. The driver who wasn't doing anything wrong is not represented in your statistics. They took the class, wore the right equipment, weren't speeding,abusing substances and were licensed.
Get a count of the almost accidents...causes etc.
Granted training, more training, safety gear, obeying speed limits, staying alert mentally and physically, being licensed saves lives.
However, Motorcyclists seem to be invisible to the regular driving public. Too many drivers are too busy on their cell phones or other electronic equipment to notice a motorcylist, stop light, stop sign, transfer truck, or train. Taking a motorcycle safety training class will reinforce this prespective. "SEE"..
Search, Elevaluate, Execute...Stay Alive!
Yes, the statistics did not take into account the cross-over of multiple factors. These were the statistics that the Washington State Patrol and the Washington DOL had presented. We were sharing there statistics to show what factors are still showing up and possibly contributing to motorcycle fatalities. If someone wanted to take a more in depth look into the statistics they can be found in the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) available at www-fars.nhtsa.dot.gov
ReplyDeleteI also agree that there are more distracted drivers on the roads and that the best defense for the motorcyclist is to assume they are invisible to other drivers as they use an aggressive search technique to evaluate the hazards. As motorcyclists we should also realize that we can also be our own worst enemy. Almost half of the the motorcycle fatalities in Washington state are single vehicle accidents which means there are a lot of riders going off the road and going wide in turns.
Monty Lish
I find the facts & figure quite interesting. Motorcycle accident statistics are gathered and calculated after much intensive and detailed study on motorcycle accidents. They are immensely important for all, authorities as well as motorcyclists, and serve many functions. The data gathered by studying the statistics offered helps in effectively combating accidents, or at least in taking steps to try to combat them. Studies indicate that motorcycle accident rate is on the rise in the whole world. Brain damages, soft tissue damage, joint, bones, and shoulder breakage are often caused by motorcycle accidents. Whatever the reason for the accident may have been, if you have gone through it then an accident attorney will help you bail out of this situation. For more information visit accident at work .
ReplyDeleteJohn - thank you for your input on this topic.
ReplyDeleteRegarding the statement, "You also see that by doing something as simple as taking a motorcycle safety training class, like those offered by Evergreen Safety Council, could reduce your likelihood of being in a fatal motorcycle accident by over 70%," I must assume that it is a direct reference to the statistic, "45 of 62 motorcycle drivers (72.5%) had no motorcycle safety training;" however, we may not make that assumption. In order to assess the reduction in likelyhood of involvement in a fatal crash, based on the quoted statistic, we must also know the percentage of riders in the pool who have completed training courses. For example, using the statistic quoted above, if 72.5% of motorcyclists in Washington state have had no motorcycle safety training, then we can deduce that motorcycle safety training had no significant influence on the likelyhood of an individual in the pool from becoming involved in a fatal motorcycle accident. In fact, according to the statistics given above, if less than 37.5% of the riders in Washington state have had motorcycle safety training, then the data would infer that those riders with safety training have a HIGHER likelyhood of being involved in a fatal motorcycle accident.
ReplyDeleteWill you please provide the percentage of motorcycle riders in the state of Washington who have taken formal motorcycle safety training courses? If the requested figure is not available, then the article's conclusions are misleading, and only factual by the use potential ("could"). I am a resident of the state of Washington, ride a motorcycle, received my endorsement through ESC training, and have not been involved in any fatal motorcycle accidents; that is my statistic.
Best regards.
Michael.. you hit the nail on the head. That assertion is nonsensical.. that would be like saying that none of the riders had a tattoo of a rat on their forehead.. therefore your chances of being in an accident would be reduced if you had got a tattoo of a rat on your forehead.
ReplyDeleteFor all we know 100% of the fatal accidents were motorcycle safety course graduates. The data is not available to make such a claim.
Michael,
ReplyDeleteThe way I understood it, the statistics show that of the 62 accidents 45 of them did not have proper training, so the 72.5 % of the accidents are caused by people without proper safety training, that means that only 17 out of the 62 had proper safety training and the results shown are all things held constant meaning that there was no influence of alcohol drugs or anything, just lack of safety training
Will it be safer to ride a motorcycle during the night rather the day. Most motorist will see the headlights better then seeing the bike during day in my opinion. Although most people drink and drive during those hours I think visibility plays a better factor.
ReplyDeleteWhat does it take to convince people that personal responsibility and training are effctive measures in reducing fatailies? Almost half of all motorcycle crashes resulting in fatalities are single vehicle. You can't blame other drivers for that. If motorcyclist would stop drinking, drugging and driving, slow down, gear up and refine their skills there would be a drastic reduction in annual fatality rates. Of course, other road users create problems for us, but we can affect immediate change by correcting the problems we create for ourselves. I have taught motorcycle safety courses for almost a decade and I have yet to have a student that was not surprised at how much they did not know, regardless of their experience. Continuing education is a requirement for Doctors making life or death decisions on a daily basis. Professional athletes making millions are required to come to practice, just like the rookies. Motorcylists make life or death decisions every time we ride. If we expect to reduce the risks involved in what we have chosen to do, we had better make every effort to educate ourselves and practice to be as good as we think we are.
ReplyDeleteDue to your calculation in past year 62 accidents 45 of them did not have proper training, so the 72.5 % of the accidents are caused by people without proper safety training. i appreciate we can reduce our risk of being involved in a motorcycle accident by eliminating alcohol, drugs, and speeding from your riding.
ReplyDeleteThey are immensely important for all, authorities as well as motorcyclists, and serve many functions. The data gathered by studying the statistics offered helps in effectively combating accidents, or at least in taking steps to try to combat them.
ReplyDeleteVery true
ReplyDelete