FATALITY FACTS 2005

Motorcycles

Motorcycles are less stable and less visible than cars and often have high performance capabilities. For these and other reasons, motorcycles are more likely than cars to be involved in crashes. When motorcycles crash, their riders lack the protection of an enclosed vehicle, so they're more likely to be injured or killed. Per mile traveled in 2004, the number of deaths on motorcycles was about 34 times the number in cars. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. 2005. Traffic safety facts, 2004. Washington, DC: US Department of Transportation.

Research published in 1995 shows that five crash types account for 86 percent of fatal motorcycle crashes: motorcycle runs off road (41 percent), motorcycle or other vehicle runs traffic control (18 percent), head on (11 percent), car turns in front of motorcycle (8 percent), and motorcycle goes down in roadway (7 percent). Preusser, D.F.; Williams, A.F.; and Ulmer, R.G. 1995. Analysis of fatal motorcycle crashes: crash typing. Accident Analysis and Prevention 27:845-51.

Because serious head injury is common among fatally injured motorcyclists, helmet use is important. Helmets are about 37 percent effective in preventing motorcyclist deaths Deutermann, W. 2004. Motorcycle helmet effectiveness revisited. Report no. DOT HS-809-715 Washington, DC: US Department of Transportation. and about 67 percent effective in preventing brain injuries. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. 2005. Traffic safety facts, 2004. Washington, DC: US Department of Transportation. An unhelmeted rider is 40 percent more likely to sustain a fatal head injury compared with a helmeted rider. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. 1996. Motorcycle helmets: the facts of life. Washington, DC: US Department of Transportation. Yet only 20 states and the District of Columbia mandate helmet use by all riders. Death rates from head injuries have been shown to be twice as high among motorcyclists in states with no helmet laws or laws that apply only to young riders, compared with states where laws apply to all riders. Sosin, D.M.; Sacks, J.J.; and Holmgreen, P. 1990. Head injury-associated deaths from motorcycle crashes: relationship to helmet use laws. Journal of the American Medical Association 264:2395-99. During the past few years several states have repealed or weakened their helmet laws. In 1997 helmet laws in Texas and Arkansas were weakened to apply only to younger riders. Kentucky weakened its law in 1998, Florida weakened its law in 2000, and Pennsylvania weakened its law in 2003. Louisiana weakened its law in 1999 but reverted to universal coverage in 2004. Repealing or weakening helmet laws so they don't apply to all riders has been followed by increases in deaths. Preusser, D.F.; Hedlund, J.H.; and Ulmer, R.G. 2000. Evaluation of motorcycle helmet law repeal in Arkansas and Texas. Washington, DC: US Department of Transportation. Kyrychenko, S.Y. and McCartt, A.T. 2006 Florida weakened motorcycle helmet law: effects on death rates in motorcycle crashes. Traffic Injury Prevention 7:55-60. Ulmer, D.G. and Northrup, V.S. 2005. Evaluation of the repeal of the all-rider motorcycle helmet law in Florida. Report no. DOT HS-809-849. Washington, DC: US Department of Transportation. In contrast, benefits return when helmet laws applying to all riders are reinstated.[ Error ]

The following facts are based on analysis of data from the US Department of Transportation's Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS).

Data subsections:

Trends Age and gender Motorcycle engine size Crash types When they died Where they died

Trends

A total of 4,439 motorcyclists died in crashes in 2005. Motorcyclist deaths had been declining since the early 1980s but began to increase in 1998 and have continued to increase. Since 1997 motorcyclist deaths have more than doubled.

Passenger vehicle occupant deaths and motorcyclist deaths, 1975-2005

Motorcyclist deaths as a percentage of all motor vehicle crash deaths, 1975-2005
Year	Passenger vehicle occupant deaths		Motorcyclist deaths		All motor vehicle deaths
Year	Num	%	Num	%	Num
1975	30,601	69	3,106	7	44,525
1976	31,724	70	3,232	7	45,523
1977	32,823	69	4,004	8	47,878
1978	34,923	69	4,448	9	50,331
1979	35,026	69	4,712	9	51,093
1980	34,995	68	4,955	10	51,091
1981	33,711	68	4,737	10	49,301
1982	29,654	67	4,267	10	43,945
1983	29,153	68	4,099	10	42,589
1984	30,091	68	4,425	10	44,257
1985	29,847	68	4,415	10	43,825
1986	32,224	70	4,309	9	46,087
1987	33,145	71	3,832	8	46,390
1988	34,105	72	3,491	7	47,087
1989	33,599	74	3,030	7	45,582
1990	32,711	73	3,128	7	44,599
1991	30,810	74	2,702	7	41,508
1992	29,457	75	2,291	6	39,250
1993	29,994	75	2,346	6	40,150
1994	30,816	76	2,215	5	40,716
1995	31,913	76	2,138	5	41,817
1996	32,354	77	2,077	5	42,065
1997	32,331	77	2,056	5	42,013
1998	31,779	77	2,227	5	41,501
1999	32,008	77	2,419	6	41,717
2000	32,109	77	2,829	7	41,945
2001	31,938	76	3,123	7	42,196
2002	32,724	76	3,187	7	43,005
2003	32,166	75	3,641	8	42,884
2004	31,750	74	3,904	9	42,836
2005	31,322	72	4,439	10	43,443

In 2005 about a third fewer fatally injured motorcyclists were operating without a valid license (24 percent) than in 1995, but this was still higher than among passenger vehicle drivers (15 percent).

Motorcycle driver deaths by license compliance, 1995-2005
Year	Passenger vehicle drivers			Motorcycle drivers
	No valid license		Total*	No valid license		Total*
	Num	%	Num	Num	%	Num
1995	3,056	14	21,456	703	36	1,939
1996	2,953	13	21,631	631	33	1,881
1997	2,900	13	21,702	612	32	1,878
1998	2,942	13	21,627	649	31	2,026
1999	2,931	13	21,899	611	27	2,223
2000	3,127	15	21,819	730	27	2,591
2001	2,977	13	21,862	799	27	2,886
2002	3,279	15	22,537	763	25	2,952
2003	3,123	14	22,200	837	25	3,358
2004	3,024	14	21,952	866	24	3,593
2005	3,129	15	21,880	994	24	4,122
*Total includes other and/or unknowns

Age and gender

Ninety percent of motorcyclists killed in 2005 were males.

Motorcyclist deaths by age and gender, 2005
Age	Male		Female		Total*
Age	Num	%	Num	%	Num
<16	39	85	7	15	46
16-19	184	89	23	11	207
20-24	597	94	35	6	632
25-29	486	94	29	6	515
30-34	439	91	42	9	481
35-39	429	90	49	10	478
40-44	439	84	86	16	525
45-49	401	85	70	15	471
50-54	384	91	40	9	424
55-59	287	90	33	10	320
60-69	255	94	17	6	272
≥ 70	64	96	3	4	67
Total*	4,004	90	435	10	4,439
*Total includes other and/or unknowns

Sixty-six percent of the females who died in motorcycle crashes in 2005 were passengers, and their deaths represented 91 percent of the passenger deaths. Ninety-nine percent of the males who died were drivers.

Motorcyclist deaths by person type, 2005
Person type	Male		Female
Person type	Num	%	Num	%
Driver	3,973	99	149	34
Passenger	29	1	286	66
Total*	4,004	100	435	100
*Total includes other and/or unknowns

In the early 1980s the proportion of fatally injured motorcyclists 40 and older started to increase, from 9 percent of all rider deaths in 1982 to 15 percent in 1991 and 47 percent in 2005. However, the absolute number of motorcyclist deaths among all age groups has been climbing since 1999.

Motorcyclist deaths by age, 1975-2005

Motorcyclist deaths by age, 1975-2005
Year	≤29		30-39		≥ 40		Total*
Year	Num	%	Num	%	Num	%	Num
1975	2,475	80	419	13	208	7	3,106
1976	2,565	79	426	13	239	7	3,232
1977	3,211	80	529	13	259	6	4,004
1978	3,557	80	603	14	281	6	4,448
1979	3,627	77	729	15	350	7	4,712
1980	3,641	73	896	18	414	8	4,955
1981	3,487	74	840	18	401	8	4,737
1982	3,082	72	790	19	385	9	4,267
1983	2,959	72	765	19	369	9	4,099
1984	3,171	72	813	18	428	10	4,425
1985	3,160	72	849	19	401	9	4,415
1986	3,034	70	877	20	388	9	4,309
1987	2,588	68	831	22	413	11	3,832
1988	2,309	66	757	22	424	12	3,491
1989	1,873	62	735	24	419	14	3,030
1990	1,885	60	805	26	438	14	3,128
1991	1,580	58	711	26	410	15	2,702
1992	1,242	54	638	28	411	18	2,291
1993	1,229	52	647	28	469	20	2,346
1994	1,121	51	584	26	509	23	2,215
1995	1,057	49	562	26	519	24	2,138
1996	932	45	541	26	604	29	2,077
1997	837	41	547	27	672	33	2,056
1998	897	40	599	27	730	33	2,227
1999	878	36	601	25	940	39	2,419
2000	986	35	696	25	1,142	40	2,829
2001	1,108	35	789	25	1,224	39	3,123
2002	1,022	32	767	24	1,396	44	3,187
2003	1,161	32	829	23	1,650	45	3,641
2004	1,256	32	853	22	1,795	46	3,904
2005	1,400	32	959	22	2,079	47	4,439
*Total includes other and/or unknowns

Motorcycle engine size

The average engine size of motorcycles whose drivers were in fatal crashes went up dramatically in the last few years. Among motorcycle operators killed in 2005, 21 percent drove motorcycles with engine sizes larger than 1400 cc, compared with 9 percent in 2000 and less than 1 percent in 1990.

Percentage of motorcycle driver deaths by motorcycle engine size, 1985-2005

Motorcycle driver deaths by motorcycle engine size, 1985-2005
Year	0-1000 cc		1001-1400 cc		>1400 cc		Total*
Year	Num	%	Num	%	Num	%	Num
1985	2,649	68	613	16	0	0	3,896
1986	2,734	72	620	16	0	0	3,790
1987	2,441	72	601	18	0	0	3,409
1988	2,149	68	615	20	6	<1	3,139
1989	1,831	68	539	20	3	<1	2,682
1990	1,895	68	619	22	5	<1	2,790
1991	1,632	68	545	23	13	1	2,404
1992	1,351	65	517	25	7	<1	2,079
1993	1,330	63	582	27	11	1	2,120
1994	1,199	60	533	27	15	1	1,995
1995	1,174	61	564	29	22	1	1,939
1996	1,102	59	546	29	36	2	1,881
1997	1,053	56	612	33	33	2	1,878
1998	1,140	56	648	32	46	2	2,026
1999	1,073	48	644	29	98	4	2,223
2000	1,341	52	779	30	234	9	2,591
2001	1,540	53	780	27	309	11	2,886
2002	1,475	50	737	25	482	16	2,952
2003	1,620	48	829	25	612	18	3,358
2004	1,775	49	813	23	721	20	3,593
2005	2,051	50	922	22	855	21	4,122
*Total includes other and/or unknowns

In 2005 only 8 percent of fatally injured operators younger than 40 drove motorcycles with engines larger than 1400 cc, compared with 36 percent of riders 40 and older.

Motorcycle driver deaths by motorcycle engine size and driver age, 2005
Age	0-1000 cc		1001-1400 cc		>1400 cc		Total*
Age	Num	%	Num	%	Num	%	Num
<40	1,563	71	308	14	175	8	2,212
≥ 40	488	26	614	32	680	36	1,910
Total	2,051	50	922	22	855	21	4,122
*Total includes other and/or unknowns

Crash types

Forty-four percent of motorcyclist deaths in 2005 occurred in single-vehicle crashes, and 56 percent occurred in multiple-vehicle crashes.

Motorcyclist deaths by crash type, 2005
Crash type	Deaths	%
Single-vehicle	1,934	44
Multiple-vehicle	2,499	56
All crashes*	4,439	100
*Total includes other and/or unknowns

Twenty-seven percent of fatally injured motorcycle drivers in 2005 had blood alcohol concentrations (BACs) at or above 0.08 percent; among single-vehicle crashes this was 41 percent.

Estimated number and percent of fatally injured motorcycle drivers with high BACs by crash type, 2005
Crash type	Deaths	Estimated deaths with BACs ≥ 0.08		Estimated deaths with BACs ≥ 0.15
Crash type	Num	Num	%	Num	%
Single-vehicle	1,795	729	41	461	26
Multiple-vehicle	2,322	393	17	208	9
All crashes*	4,122	1,124	27	670	16
*Total includes other and/or unknowns

When they died

Seventy-one percent of motorcyclist deaths in 2005 occurred during the six months of May-October. Fatalities peaked during July-September and were lowest during December-February.

Motorcyclist deaths by month, 2005
Month	Deaths	%
January	135	3
February	125	3
March	221	5
April	414	9
May	453	10
June	506	11
July	591	13
August	563	13
September	594	13
October	438	10
November	269	6
December	130	3
Total	4,439	100

Fifty-nine percent of motorcyclist deaths in 2005 occurred during Friday-Sunday.

Motorcyclist deaths by day of week, 2005
Day of week	Deaths	%
Sunday	950	21
Monday	467	11
Tuesday	431	10
Wednesday	454	10
Thursday	487	11
Friday	621	14
Saturday	1,028	23
Total*	4,439	100
*Total includes other and/or unknowns

Forty-four percent of motorcyclist deaths in 2005 occurred between 3pm and 9pm. Another 26 percent occurred between 9pm and 6am.

Motorcyclist deaths by time of day, 2005
Time of day	Deaths	%
Midnight-3am	402	9
3am-6am	137	3
6am-9am	250	6
9am-noon	345	8
Noon-3pm	690	16
3pm-6pm	991	22
6pm-9pm	980	22
9pm-midnight	616	14
Total*	4,439	100
*Total includes other and/or unknowns

Fifty-three percent of motorcycle drivers killed at night (9pm–6am) in 2005 had BACs at or above 0.08 percent.

Estimated number and percent of fatally injured motorcycle drivers with high BACs by time of day, 2005
Time of day	Deaths	Estimated deaths with BACs ≥ 0.08		Estimated deaths with BACs ≥ 0.15
Time of day	Num	Num	%	Num	%
Nighttime (9pm-6am)	1,065	561	53	370	35
Other times	3,057	564	18	301	10
Total	4,122	1,124	27	670	16

Where they died

More than half of motorcyclist deaths in 2005 occurred on major roads other than interstates and freeways.

Motorcyclist deaths by location of crash, 2005
Road Type	Urban		Rural		Total*
Road Type	Num	%	Num	%	Num	%
Interstates and freeways	392	9	113	3	505	11
Major roads	1,064	24	1,359	31	2,423	55
Minor roads	683	15	619	14	1,302	29
Total*	2,152	48	2,119	48	4,439	100
*Total includes other and/or unknowns