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https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/27432/critical-issues-in-transportation-for-2024-and-beyond

MOTORCYCLE ACCIDENTS

MOTORCYCLE REGISTRATIONS ROSE MORE THAN 400% FROM 1961 TO 1966, WHILE TOTAL VEHICLE REGISTRATIONS INCREASED BY ONLY 20%. THE PERCENTAGE OF REGISTERED MOTORCYCLES INVOLVED IN ACCIDENTS HAS DROPPED SINCE 1965 AND HAS LEVELED OFF IN 1967 AND 1968 AT 4.8% OF REGISTRATIONS. OF MOTORCYCLES INVOLVED IN ACCIDENTS, APPROXIMATELY 95% ARE INVOLVED IN INJURY- PRODUCING ACCIDENTS COMPARED WITH 53% FOR ALL MOTOR VEHICLES. THE PERCENTAGE OF MOTORCYCLES INVOLVED IN FATAL ACCCIDENTS IS APPROXIMATELY THREE TIMES THAT OF ALL MOTOR VEHICLES. ACCIDENT INVOLVEMENT RATES BASED ON AN ENTIRE YEAR INDICATE THAT THE PROBABILITY OF A MOTORCYCLE BEING INVOLVED IN AN ACCIDENT IS ONLY HALF AS GREAT AS THE PROBABILITY OF ALL MOTOR VEHICLES BEING INVOLVED IN ACCIDENTS. HOWEVER, THIS IS AN INVLAID COMPARISON BECAUSE MOTORCYCLES ARE GENERALLY NOT OPERATED DURING THE COLDER MONTHS. A MORE REALISTIC EXAMINATION OF APRIL TO OCTOBER ACCIDENT DATA SHOWS THAT MOTORCYCLES HAVE A GREATER ACCIDENT INVOLVEMENT RATE THAN ALL MOTOR VEHICLES. IN 1967 THERE WAS A DRAMATIC INCREASE OF 39% IN THE TOTAL NUMBER OF MOTORCYCLE ACCIDENTS. THIS OVERALL REDUCTION IN ACCIDENTS MIGHT BEST BE EXPLAINED BY THE ATMOSPHERE OF SAFETY ORIENTATION CREATED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF MOTOR VEHICLES AND BY INTENSIFIED LAW ENFORCEMENT. THE NUMBER OF MOTORCYCLE ACCIDENTS INCREASED IN 1968 BUT WAS WELL BELOW THE FREQUENCY OF ACCIDENTS IN 1966. A DETAILED ANALYSIS WAS MADE OF MOTORCYCLE ACCIDENTS OCCURRING IN 1966. THIS ANALYSIS WAS COMPARED WITH A SIMILAR ANALYSIS FOR 1967 IN ORDER TO EVALUATE THE MOTORCYCLE HELMET REQUIREMENT. THIS ANALYSIS REPRESENTS ONE YEAR OF ACCIDENT DATA PRIOR TO, AND ONE YEAR AFTER, THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THE SAFETY EQUIPMENT REQUIREMENT. THE RESULTS SHOWED A 40% REDUCTION IN THE NUMBER OF MOTORCYCLISTS WHO WERE FATALLY INJURED. MOREOVER, THE PROBABILITY OF SUSTAINING A SERIOUS HEAD, FACE, OR NECK INJURY WAS REDUCED BY APPROXIMATELY ONE- THIRD. THIS SIGNIFICANT REDUCTION IN FATALITIES AND SERIOUS HEAD INJURIES IS EVIDENCE THAT THE NEW YORK STATE MOTORCYCLE HELMET LAW HAS MADE A MAJOR CONTRIBUTION TO HIGHWAY SAFETY. IN 1966 AND 1967 THERE WAS A TOTAL OF 7,911 PERSONAL INJURY AND FATAL MOTORCYCLE ACCIDENTS INVOLVING 9,670 OCCUPANTS ON THE MOTORCYCLES. OF THE MOTORCYCLES INVOLVED IN ACCIDENTS, 22% CARRIED A PASSENGER. THE PASSENGER ON THE MOTORCYCLE IS IN FAR MORE DANGER THAN THE OPERATOR. THERE IS A 20% GREATER PROBABILITY OF A PASSENGER BEING KILLED AS COMPARED WITH AN OPERATOR. APPROXIMATELY 95% OF NEW YORK STATE MOTORCYCLE LICENSES ARE HELD BY MALE OPERATORS. THIS IS CONSISTENT WITH THE FINDING THAT 97% OF THE MOTORCYCLE OPERATORS INVOLVED IN ACCIDENTS ARE MALES. THE SEX DISTRIBUTION OF PASSENGERS, HOWEVER, IS GREATLY DIFFERENT FROM THAT OF THE OPERATORS. MALES REPRESENT 50% OF PASSENGERS AND FEMALES 50%.THE BODY AREA SUSTAINING THE HIGHEST FREQUENCY OF INJURY FOR MOTORCYCLE OCCUPANTS IS THE LEGS. APPROXIMATELY 58% OF THE INJURED PERSONS SUFFERED INJURY IN THIS AREA. TRUNK AREA INJURIES ARE THE NEXT HIGHEST IN FREQUENCY WITH 29%, FOLLOWED BY THE ARM AREAS WITH 27% AND HEAD INJURIES WITH 18%. OF THE 7,982 MOTORCYCLES INVOLVED IN PERSONAL INJURY AND FATAL ACCIDENTS IN 1966 AND 1967, 80% WERE MODEL YEARS 1967, 1966, OR 1965, A VERY HIGH PERCENTAGE OF NEW VEHICLES. A COMPARATIVE FIGURE FOR PASSENGER CARS IS THAT 35% ARE MODEL YEARS 1967, 1966, OR 1965. OTHER FACTORS CONSIDERED INCLUDE: ROAD CONDITION, ANIMAL INVOLVEMENT, VEHICLE DEFECTS, UNLICENSED OPERATORS, ALCOHOL, POLICE MOTORCYCLES, POLICE PURSUIT, DRUG USE AND VIOLATIONS OF THE SAFETY EQUIPMENT REQUIREMENT. /SRIS/

  • Supplemental Notes:
    • 58pp, 7 Fig, 11 TAB
  • Corporate Authors:

    New York State Department of Motor Vehicles

    Governor Nelson A Rockefeller Empire State Plaza
    Albany, NY  United States  12228
  • Publication Date: 1969-12

Subject/Index Terms

Filing Info

  • Accession Number: 00221234
  • Record Type: Publication
  • Source Agency: Nat Safety Council Safety Res Info Serv
  • Files: TRIS
  • Created Date: Jun 11 1971 12:00AM