A lot of hay is being made over a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) report released just today over the dramatic reduction in California motorcycle fatalities. Even a Sacramento Bee story jumped all over the news which states that for the first 6 months of 2009, motorcycle traffic fatalities are down 25% (from 264 to 198) compared to the same period last year.
UPDATE: See the 2009 report here (Thanks to Mia for the suggested direct link)
The report says fatalities are down for the first time since 1998. But is that number:
- the gross number of fatalities?
- the number of fatalities per Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT)?
- the number of fatalities per number of registered motorcycles?
Today's report lists the overall (cars, trucks, buses, etc) numbers as VMT, but fails to break those numbers out for motorcycles specifically. The reason I raise the issue is because of the following table I lifted from another NHTSA report. As you can see, California motorcycle fatalities actually showed a decline in 2007, when compared to number of bikes registered.
|
Year
|
Motorcyclist Fatalities
|
Total Motorcycle
Registrations* |
Motorcyclist
Fatalities Per 100,000 Motorcycle Registrations |
|
2004
|
432
|
626,529
|
68.95
|
|
2005
|
469
|
675,336
|
69.45
|
|
2006
|
506
|
726,096
|
69.69
|
|
2007
|
518
|
767,319
|
67.51
|
|
2008
|
560
|
|
|
*2008 Motorcycle Registrations are Not Yet Available
Comments
It is all in the spin.
Can you please post a link to the NHTSA report?
Mia, though I did include a link to the NHTSA home page, I agree that it is cumbersome to navigate and find the 2009 report. I will indeed update the article with a direct link to the report.
Everyone should be aware that NHTSA's so-called Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) is fraud.
In NHTSA's National Agenda for Motorcycle Safety they actually admit: "Unfortunately, vehicle miles of travel (VMT) data for motorcycles are not reported directly and must be estimated." Fabricated would be a more accurate word than "estimated". By definition, statistics cannot be "estimated".
For a more in depth explanation of NTHSA's fraud, see page 9 of Helmet Law Facts at sbumaui.org .
Warren, I appreciate your comments. Seems the more I read of this whole thing, the deeper the story really goes. I will research the link you provided. Thank you.
"(NHTSA) report released just today over the dramatic reduction in California motorcycle fatalities" -the link you provided was a report that NHTSA put out Oct. 9. I would like to read the report that shows CA [and other states?] motorcycle fatalities.
A reporter for York Daily Record commented on the death rates on motorcycles similar to what is being said all over the country. The death rate is TWICE this year over last year in York, PA (Where the Harley-Davidson plant is located). He also noted the same thing that I have found, namely that 70% of accidents are the fault of the rider now, not the way it used to be. Alcohol is a major factor as is engine size but most of all the age of the rider.
The majority of riders being killed are over 40 years of age now.
Motorcycle fatalities now account for 14% of all deaths but less than 1% of miles driven.
From the descriptions of many fatal accidents, simple loss of control, driving into curbs, parked cars, buildings, missing exits etc. have all become common causes of fatalities. Excess speed is sometimes a factor as well.
It's pretty clear the those in mid-life crisis are dying on motorcycles at an unprecedented rate. This is certainly due to the lack of genuine testing,
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