Motorcyclist Traffic Fatalities by State: 2015 Preliminary Data

Motorcyclist fatalities in the United States are expected to have increased by 10 percent in 2015 compared with 2014 (more than 450 additional fatalities), based on preliminary data supplied to the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) by the 50 states and the District of Columbia. This increase follows two years in which the number of motorcyclist fatalities decreased. GHSA estimates the total number of motorcyclist fatalities reported by the 50 states and the District of Columbia for 2015 will be 5,010, compared with 4,548 for 2014. This would be only the third year in which more than 5,000 motorcyclist fatalities were recorded. Many factors contribute to changes in the number of motorcyclist fatalities, including economic conditions, demographics, weather conditions, fuel prices, and the amount of motor vehicle travel. Travel monitoring data published by Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) indicates that motor vehicle travel by all vehicles increased by 3.5 percent (+107 billion vehicle miles) in 2015 as compared with 2014. Cumulative travel for 2015 (over 3.1 trillion miles) was the highest number of vehicle miles traveled ever reported by FHWA. Many states noted that warmer and drier weather in 2015 led to an extended riding season. The number of motorcycle fatalities is high relative to the mid-1990s when half as many motorcyclist deaths occurred on U.S. roads. In contrast, the annual number of overall traffic fatalities declined by more than 20 percent over the same 20-year period. This report includes Motorcyclist Fatalities and Percent of Total Traffic Fatalities, 1990-2014; Motorcyclist Fatalities by State for 2014 and 2015; and State-specific examples of motorcyclist safety initiatives.

• Record URL:
  http://www.ghsa.org/sites/default/files/2016-12/motorcycles_2015.pdf
• 
• Corporate Authors:

  Governors Highway Safety Association

  Washington, DC  United States 

  Sam Schwartz Consulting

  ,    
• Authors:
  • Retting, Richard
  • Rothenberg, Heather
• Publication Date: 2016

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 33p

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Countermeasures; Fatalities; Motorcycle crashes; Motorcycle helmets; Motorcyclists; States; Trend (Statistics)
• Geographic Terms: United States
• Subject Areas: Highways; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01616950
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Nov 21 2016 1:26PM