Bikers Beware: Motorcycle Deaths on the Rise

As the motorcycle riding season kicks into high gear and the Milwaukee area gets ready for major events this summer celebrating the 100th anniversary of manufacturer Harley-Davidson, motorcycle crashes are taking the lives of more bikers than at any time in the past ten years.

According to a study in the February 2002 Annals of Emergency Medicine, middle-aged riders on higher-powered motorcycles accounted for most of a more than one-third increase in deaths from 1998-2000. An April 2003 report from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) revealed a 60% increase in motorcycle death rates overall in the past five years.

Age + Big Engines - Helmets = Trouble
Investigators and health care practitioners are looking at several possible causes for this turnaround in fatalities and death rates, which had been on a steady decline prior to the mid-1990s. Relaxation and repeal of mandatory helmet laws, a big rise in the average age of motorcycle riders, and the increased use of bikes with more powerful engines have all been discussed as factors.

“The older the driver, the more potential they have for a bad outcome from a crash,” says Stephen W. Hargarten, MD, MPH, Medical College of Wisconsin Professor, Chairman of Emergency Medicine and the Director of the Injury Research Center at the College. “That certainly holds true whether they’re riding a motorcycle or in a car, but of course a motorcycle offers far less protection.”

“Still, I don’t know of any data suggesting that older motorcycle riders are less likely to wear a helmet or more likely to take risks,” said Dr. Hargarten (NHTSA data indicates that older riders are actually more likely to wear helmets). Dr Hargarten added that riding more powerful motorcycles even at slightly higher speeds is strongly suspected in the mortality increase regardless of the rider’s age.

“We simply don’t know all of the reasons,” said Dr. Hargarten. “All things being equal, if you look at 60-year-olds getting into motorcycle crashes as compared to 20-year-olds, the 20-year-olds are going to do better just because they’re younger. They have fewer additional health factors to consider. Older riders might have high blood pressure, diabetes, or other chronic problems that place them at greater risk of a more severe outcome should they get injured. I think that’s one way to describe the changes that may be taking place.”

Bad Numbers Getting Worse
Statistics from NHTSA show clear trends toward an older biking population and larger motorcycles. Since 1980 the median age of riders has gone from 24 to 38 as the large “baby boom” percentage of the US population has grown older. The age of those killed in crashes rose to 36.5 in 1999, up from 29 in 1990. And the average size of motorcycle engines expanded from 769 cubic centimeters in 1990 to 922 cubic centimeters in 1999.

There was also a marked jump in the motorcycle death rate, from 21 deaths per 100 million estimated vehicle miles traveled on motorcycles in 1997 to 33.4 deaths per 100 million miles in 2001 – an increase of more than 50%. The NHTSA notes that passenger car riders have a death rate of 1.3 per 100 million miles, a fraction of the risk of motorcyclists.

Helmet laws are also a topic of concern among safety and health care officials. There were 47 states that required all motorcycle riders to wear helmets in 1975, according to the NHTSA; now only 20 states have these comprehensive laws. Several states weakened their laws after 1995, when Congress ended the incentive of withholding federal highway funds from states that did not require helmets on all riders.

Wisconsin Statistics Follow Grim Trend
Wisconsin requires helmet use only for operators and riders under the age of 18 and for holders of instructional permits of any age and their passengers. The vast majority of motorcyclists in Wisconsin are not required to wear helmets, although the state Department of Transportation (DOT) strongly encourages their use by all.

Statistics from the Wisconsin DOT show statewide jumps in motorcycle crashes and fatalities consistent with the national trends for the past few years:

   Year      Crashes      Deaths