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Table of contents
1. Home & Family -- Eyes on the Road: Motorcycle Fatalities Show a Steady Rise; Deadly Trend Coincides
With Surge in Sales, Middle-Aged Riders........................................................................................................ 1

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Document 1 of 1

Home &Family -- Eyes on the Road: Motorcycle Fatalities Show a Steady Rise; Deadly Trend
Coincides With Surge in Sales, Middle-Aged Riders
Author: White, Joseph B
ProQuest document link
Abstract (Abstract): The NHTSA last week released preliminary figures for highway fatalities in 2006, and
heralded a 2% decline in overall motor-vehicle fatalities to the lowest absolute number (42,642) in five years
and the lowest rate per 100 million vehicle miles traveled the government has ever recorded. But underneath
the positive headline was grim news for bikers. Fatalities among motorcycle riders rose 5.1% to 4,810 people,
accounting for 11% of total highway deaths last year. That's the highest share ever for motorcycle fatalities, and
marks the ninth straight year that motorcycle fatalities have increased.
The steady rise in deaths among motorcycle riders has coincided with a surge in sales of motorcycles since
1990. This is just one more phenomenon driven by Baby Boomers. The average age of motorcycle owners rose
to 40.2 years old in 2003, up from 38.1 in 1990, according to a study of trends in motorcycle fatalities NHTSA
researchers published in June 2006.
Dr. [Phillip Brewer] says he's pessimistic that the motorcycle safety problem will be addressed through new
regulation, given the political climate. "If car drivers organized to the same extent against seat belts," he says,
"you'd see us repealing seat-belt laws as well."
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Full text: Phillip Brewer rode a motorcycle during an eight-year sojourn in France. When he returned to the U.S.
in the early 1980s to pursue his career as an emergency-room physician, he says he thought about getting
another bike until "this guy's arm got carried in to the emergency room about 10 minutes before the rest of him."
That was it for motorcycling, says Dr. Brewer, now director of University Health Services at Quinnipiac
University in Connecticut. A former faculty member at the Yale medical school, Dr. Brewer has served as a
safety fellow at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and over the years has argued consistently
against efforts to repeal state laws requiring motorcyclists to wear helmets.
The NHTSA last week released preliminary figures for highway fatalities in 2006, and heralded a 2% decline in
overall motor-vehicle fatalities to the lowest absolute number (42,642) in five years and the lowest rate per 100
million vehicle miles traveled the government has ever recorded. But underneath the positive headline was grim
news for bikers. Fatalities among motorcycle riders rose 5.1% to 4,810 people, accounting for 11% of total
highway deaths last year. That's the highest share ever for motorcycle fatalities, and marks the ninth straight
year that motorcycle fatalities have increased.
The steady rise in deaths among motorcycle riders has coincided with a surge in sales of motorcycles since
1990. This is just one more phenomenon driven by Baby Boomers. The average age of motorcycle owners rose
to 40.2 years old in 2003, up from 38.1 in 1990, according to a study of trends in motorcycle fatalities NHTSA
researchers published in June 2006.
More than 25% of bikes registered in 2003 were owned by people 50 or older, compared with just 10.1% in
1990. Overall, people over 40 owned 53% of motorcycles in 2003, according to the NHTSA report. Many a
Harley-Davidson is indeed piloted by a middle-aged man looking to recapture his pirate youth; it's not just a
stereotype.
Biker culture celebrates the romance of living on the edge, from the tunes selected for Harley-Davidson's series
of road music collections to the skulls and crosses that bedeck biker clothing and jewelry. What many riders
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may not realize is just how dangerous the road can be for someone on two wheels. Adjusted for miles traveled,
riders were 34 times more likely to die in a highway accident than occupants of passenger cars in 2004,
according to the NHTSA study.
While riders aged 20-29 suffer the largest number of deaths, deaths among riders 40-49 years old are rising
fast, the government study found. The average age of riders killed on the road has risen by nearly six years to
38, and more fatal accidents involve bikes with large engines. Most of the increase in deaths came because of
crashes involving motorcycles with engines of 1,000-1,500 cubic centimeter displacement -- a class of bike that
includes many heavy cruiser models from Harley-Davidson Inc., Honda Motor Co., Yamaha Motor Corp. and
others.
The causes of motorcycle crashes are typically the same as the causes for car and truck crashes. Speeding is
linked to about a third of motorcycle fatalities. Also, a majority of riders die with blood- alcohol concentrations
above the 0.08 level now designated as the legal limit.
Of course, the margin for error on a motorcycle is narrower than for cars. Even the flimsiest car puts some steel
between its operator and the pavement or another vehicle. If my Subaru side-swipes another car on a crowded
freeway, I will probably live to pay my insurance deductible. But if I make a careless lane change and sideswipe
a motorcycle rider, the outcome could be tragic.
The decline in fatality rates for automobile passengers has coincided with the spread of technologies such as
side airbags and stability control, more crashworthy vehicle designs, more vigorous enforcement of seatbelt
laws and strictures against drinking and driving.
While car and truck drivers have, largely, acquiesced to state laws mandating seat-belt use, riders present a
more difficult challenge. Spurred by persistent and sophisticated lobbying by rider groups such as ABATE,
legislatures in about 30 states have repealed laws requiring motorcyclists to wear helmets. Moves to repeal
helmet mandates continue despite evidence that once riders have a choice, motorcycle deaths rise sharply.
Dr. Brewer says he's pessimistic that the motorcycle safety problem will be addressed through new regulation,
given the political climate. "If car drivers organized to the same extent against seat belts," he says, "you'd see
us repealing seat-belt laws as well."
Which means those who ride will have to decide.
Subject: Fatalities; Statistics; Motorcycles; Traffic accidents & safety;
Classification: 9190: United States; 8680: Transportation equipment industry
Publication title: Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition
Pages: D.2
Publication year: 2007
Publication date: Jul 31, 2007
Place of publication: New York, N.Y.
Publication subject: Business And Economics--Banking And Finance
ISSN: 00999660
Source type: Newspapers
Language of publication: English
Document type: Commentary
ProQuest document ID: 399052711

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Document URL: http://search.proquest.com/docview/399052711?accountid=2909

Copyright: (c) 2007 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. Reproduced with permission of copyright owner. Further
reproduction or distribution is prohibited without permission.
Last updated: 2010-06-26
Database: National Newspapers Premier,ABI/INFORM Complete

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