Training and Education
Community Resources: Motorcycle Safety
FACTS ABOUT MOTORCYCLE SAFETY
Between 1997 and 2002, U.S. motorcyclist fatalities increased by 1,160 to 3,276, a 55 percent increase.
Fatalities among older drivers of larger motorcycles are rising. From 1990 to 2000, the largest increase in fatalities was among older riders aged 40 and older, on motorcycles with engines sizes of more than 1000 cubic centimeters.
Motorcycles made up about 2 percent of registered vehicles and 0.3 percent of all vehicles miles traveled (VMT) in 2003, but accounted for over 8 percent of fatalities that year.
MOTORCYCLE SAFETY PROGRAM PLANNING RESOURCES
The FHWA has teamed with the AASHTO Standing Committee on Highway Traffic Safety (SCOHTS), DOT's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), and the Transportation Research Board's (TRB's) Committee on Transportation Safety Management to develop a strategic plan for highway safety. The plan comprises 22 emphasis areas, including motorcycle safety. As part of this effort, a motorcycle safety guidebook entitled Improving Motorcycle Safety and Increasing Motorcycle Awareness is being developed.
NHTSA's Motorcycle Safety Program partnered with the Motorcycle Safety Foundation (MSF) to develop the National Agenda for Motorcycle Safety in 1997. NHTSA's Motorcycle Safety Program aligns with the National Agenda on some efforts, but also focuses on more recent trends, such as the rise in rural versus urban fatalities and deaths among older riders on larger motorcycles.
FHWA MOTORCYCLE SAFETY CONTACT
Morris Oliver
202-366-2251
morris.oliver@dot.gov
