Among all riders,
motorcycle operators in the 20-29
age group had the largest percentage of
fatal crashes even though this age group is purchasing fewer motorcycles than previous years. Speeding is one of the major contributors to fatalities in this age group. Is it inexperience, youthful exuberance and the need for speed, lack of proper training or a combination of the three that is causing the discrepancy?
More than 38,000 motorcyclists have died in single vehicle motorcycle crashes between 1975 and 1999. About half of all motorcycles
involved in a fatal crash collided with another vehicle. A little over one-third of cyclists that died were speeding, approximately twice the rate for drivers of passenger vehicles or light trucks. Almost half of the fatal accidents show alcohol involvement. One out of four motorcycle operators that were involved in fatal crashes had an invalid license.
A picture is worth a thousand words.
The Honda
rider was traveling at such a "very high speed", his reaction time was not sufficient enough to avoid this accident. Swedish Police estimate a
Speed of ~250 KM/h (155 mph) before the bike hit the slow moving
car side-on at an intersection. At that speed, they predicted that the rider''s reaction time (once the vehicle came into view) wasn''t sufficient enough for him to even apply the brakes. The car had two passengers and the bike rider was found INSIDE the car with them. The Volkswagen actually flipped over from the force of impact and landed 10 feet from where the collision took place.
All three involved (two in car and rider) were killed instantly. This graphic demonstration was placed at the Stockholm Motorcycle Fair by the Swedish Police and Road Safety Department. The sign above the display also noted that the rider had only recently obtained his license.
At 250 KM (155 mph) the operator is traveling at 227 feet per second. With normal reaction time to SEE-DECIDE-REACT of 1.6 seconds the above operator would have traveled over 363 feet while making a decision on what actions to take. In this incident the Swedish police indicate that no actions were taken.
The bottom line? Forget about the age issue, it''s a non sequitur. The real issue is immutable: regardless of age categories, the motorcycle fatality rate has increased dramatically since 1997 and shows no signs of moderating in the future. What are we as motorcyclists going to do about it?
More abstracts about the Motorcycle deaths on the rise!