Legislative Update

90% of ALL Motorcycle Fatalities Occur on Undivided Roads

Date: 7/17/2006
From: Bruce@LdrLongDistanceRider.com

Fellow Freedom Fighters,
For those of you who haven't read NHTSA's latest motorcycle fatality stats, "Recent Trends in Fatal Motorcycle Crashes: An Update" (as first posted to Bruce-n-Ray's Biker Forum by GirlGeek), they are available here: http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/pdf/nrd-30/NCSA/Rpts/2006/810606.pdf

I won't present an in-depth analysis here, but I will share twoobservations:

1. The data on fatalities among helmeted versus unhelmeted riders isuseless. Fatalities result from injuries, and injuries result from crashes.The data does not tell us how many helmeted versus unhelmeted riders were(a) in the total population, (b) involved in a crash, and/or (c) injured but not killed. Without any of this information to provide context, the data presented is more likely to suggest where the fatal crash took place (free state vs. lid state) than it is to tell us anything meaningful. Ignore it.

2. Do NOT ignore Table 20: Motorcycle Rider Fatalities by Year and Roadway Type (page 37).

What you will see is one statistic that has remained constant for ten years: About 90% of all motorcycle fatalities occur on roads that are NOT DIVIDED or have NO MEDIAN BARRIER (as opposed to exit/entry ramps, one-way streets, or roads with median barriers). Let me repeat that:
ABOUT 90% OF ALL MOTORCYCLE FATALITIES OCCUR ON UNDIVIDED ROADS.
Do I need to tell you WHY? Because those are the roads where cagers guilty of negligence or inattentional blindness are most likely to commit a right-of-way violation (like turning in front of us) and take us out!More fuel for the fire, folks...

BruceBruce@LdrLongDistanceRider.com
Source:http://pub42.bravenet.com/forum/3562429698/fetch/716681/

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