DataDan
Mama says he's bona fide
As I have in past years, I'm going to summarize in a BARF thread the annual motorcycle crash data from various sources as it becomes available. I'll be starting with data from the US Department of Transportation, which today published its database of traffic fatality data for 2009.
The 2009 data shows a sharp drop in all traffic deaths, motorcycles included, which is good news, of course. But rather than reflecting sudden enlightenment of the driving/riding population to highway skills, it is probably a consequence of reduced vehicle use due to economic conditions. In future years it will be interesting to look back at data in this thread to see if it foreshadowed a longer term improvement in motorcycle safety or was just a momentary blip.
This year I intend to cover subjects similar to those I covered in Motostats 2006--US data on deaths, age distribution, helmet use, etc.--as well as certain local topics. If there is a subject you'd like to see covered, post up your suggestion or send me a PM.
Ever since the dramatic rebound in motorcycling from its early 1990s slump, crashes and deaths have steadily increased. In part, that's the inevitable result of a doubling of the number of registered bikes between 1997 and 2008. More riders, more crashes. Since the all-time low fatality count and rate of 1997, deaths have grown on average nearly 9% a year. But more than that, total deaths increased by 150%, and the fatality rate per registered motorcycle increased by 24%. So not only is the growing casualty count due to a growing motorcycle population, it's also due to greater average risk in the riding population.
In 2009, however, the trend reversed sharply. US annual deaths dropped to 4462 from 5312 in 2008, California deaths to 394 from 560, and Bay Area deaths to 59 from 95 (including the 9 counties on the Bay + Santa Cruz).
edit 2/23/11: I've updated the US and CA charts to include 2009 registrations and rates. Registrations by county for 2009 won't be available until later in the year. I'll update the Bay Area chart when they are.
edit 7/7/11: Bay Area chart updated.
The 2009 data shows a sharp drop in all traffic deaths, motorcycles included, which is good news, of course. But rather than reflecting sudden enlightenment of the driving/riding population to highway skills, it is probably a consequence of reduced vehicle use due to economic conditions. In future years it will be interesting to look back at data in this thread to see if it foreshadowed a longer term improvement in motorcycle safety or was just a momentary blip.
This year I intend to cover subjects similar to those I covered in Motostats 2006--US data on deaths, age distribution, helmet use, etc.--as well as certain local topics. If there is a subject you'd like to see covered, post up your suggestion or send me a PM.
Ever since the dramatic rebound in motorcycling from its early 1990s slump, crashes and deaths have steadily increased. In part, that's the inevitable result of a doubling of the number of registered bikes between 1997 and 2008. More riders, more crashes. Since the all-time low fatality count and rate of 1997, deaths have grown on average nearly 9% a year. But more than that, total deaths increased by 150%, and the fatality rate per registered motorcycle increased by 24%. So not only is the growing casualty count due to a growing motorcycle population, it's also due to greater average risk in the riding population.
In 2009, however, the trend reversed sharply. US annual deaths dropped to 4462 from 5312 in 2008, California deaths to 394 from 560, and Bay Area deaths to 59 from 95 (including the 9 counties on the Bay + Santa Cruz).
edit 2/23/11: I've updated the US and CA charts to include 2009 registrations and rates. Registrations by county for 2009 won't be available until later in the year. I'll update the Bay Area chart when they are.
edit 7/7/11: Bay Area chart updated.
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