The Most Frequent Reasons For Bike Accidents.
James R. Davis © The Master Strategy Group 1998
“The most fatal accidents are not ‘He didn’t see me’ problems”
It is a common belief that most motorcycle accidents are the result of someone turning left into them from oncoming traffic. …The July 1994 report issued from the (USA) Insurance Institute for Highway Safety corrects this widespread opinion and it makes the following points:
Running off the road, usually in a curve, often involving alcohol and usually a ‘single vehicle’ accident accounted for a stunning 41 percent of the total motorcycle fatalities. This is more than twice the percentage of any other cause.
The running of a traffic signal in an intersection, most often a stop sign and most often by the other vehicle, accounted for 18 percent of the total accidents.
Oncoming, head-on crashes accounted for 11 percent of the total. Very few of these were in intersections and a few were on divided roads. About half were on straight roads and the other half on curves.
58 percent of all these crashes were attributed to the motorcycle rider’s failure to stay in lane or using excessive speed. Left-turn oncoming crashes, as with the oncoming crash type described above, involve vehicles traveling in opposite directions. However, for this crash type, one of the vehicles is in the process of making a left-turn in front of oncoming traffic. This was the fourth most common crash type accounting for only 8 percent of the total. The left-turn was usually being made by the other vehicle and not the motorcycle. That is, the motorcycle usually had the superior right of way. This crash often occurred at intersections (69 percent) or at driveways and alleys (7 percent).
Motorcycle down”, meaning the motorcyclist loses control of the bike (including deliberately ‘dumping’ it) and it goes down on the roadway, accounted for another 7 percent of the total. These usually occurred on dry, level, and straight roads.
These five categories account for about 86 percent of all the fatalities looked at. “He didn’t see me” excuses could only be used in about half the ‘running traffic signal’ and ‘oncoming’ situations as well as most of those categorized as ‘left-turns’. In other words, no more than about 20 percent of all these fatalities involved a second vehicle that could have claimed not to see the motorcyclist.
Further, while the report goes on to make some suggestions about how to reduce these accidents, it does not read like the writings of a motorcycle rider. To suggest that an important possible countermeasure is to ‘avoid excessive speed when entering an intersection’ pales in comparison to simply insuring that another vehicle is on your right side as you enter intersections, for example.
Following is the full text of the cited article:
Analysis of Fatal Motorcycle Crashes: Crash Typing from FARS. Data by David Preusser, Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, 1005 N Glebe Road, Arlington, VA 22201 (July 1994)
“… The most frequently occurring crash type was ran off-road, followed by ran traffic control, oncoming (i.e., head-on), left-turn oncoming, and motorcyclist down. Taken together, these five most frequent types accounted for 86 percent of the crashes. Ran off-road crashes involve situations where the motorcyclist leaves the roadway and overturns or strikes some off-road object. This is the most frequently occurring motorcycle crash type accounting for 41 percent of the total. These are often late night, weekend crashes involving a motorcyclist who had been drinking. Off-road objects struck include: culvert, curbs, or ditches (24 percent of the crashes); posts and poles (11 percent); trees (10 percent); and guard rails (10 percent). This crash type, unlike the other crash types, most often occurs on a curve in the road (71 percent at curves versus 21 percent for all other crashes). Most are single-vehicle crashes though occasionally the motorcycle, the driver, or debris returns to the roadway and some other vehicle becomes involved. Ran traffic control crashes occur when one vehicle with an obligation to stop, remain stopped, or yield, fails to do so and thus collides with some other vehicle. This was the second most frequently occurring motorcycle crash type accounting for 18 percent of the total. Most occurred at intersections (72 percent), driveways and alleys (7 percent), or interchanges (4 percent). The traffic control device was most often a stop sign (39 percent) or traffic control signal (18 percent). Nearly all (97 percent) were “angle” collisions. Analysis of these crashes indicated that it was the driver of the other vehicle, not the motorcyclist, who was most often assigned the FARS driver factor “failed to yield”. That is, in many cases, the motorcycle had the superior right of way. The driver factor most often assigned to the motorcycle was “excessive speed” (80 versus 4) indicating, at least in some of these cases, that the motorcycle was approaching the intersection at a high rate of speed making it difficult for the other motorist to detect the motorcycle in time. Oncoming or head-on crashes involve a collision between two vehicles traveling in opposite directions. This was the third most common motorcycle crash type accounting for 11 percent of the total. Few of these crashes occurred at intersections (5 percent versus 25 percent for all other cash types) and few occurred on divided highways (7 percent versus 25 percent). About half occurred on straight roadways and half occurred on curves. Driver factors, typically failure to remain in established lane and/or excessive speed, were most often assigned to the motorcycle (158 versus 58). Left-turn oncoming crashes, as with the oncoming crash type described above, involve vehicles traveling in opposite directions. However, for this crash type, one of the vehicles is in the process of making a left-turn in front of oncoming traffic. This was the fourth most common crash type accounting for 8 percent of the total. The left-turn was usually being made by the other vehicle and not the motorcycle that is; the motorcycle usually had the superior right of way. This crash often occurred at intersections (69 percent) or at driveways and alleys (7 percent). Motorcyclists down crashes cover situations where the motorcyclist loses control of the vehicle and goes down in the roadway. The motorcycles could have struck something in the roadway or have been struck by some other vehicle after going down. This was the fifth most common crash type accounting for 7 percent of the total. Generally, it could not be determined why the motorcycle went down. The “loss of control” could have been a deliberate action on the part of the motorcyclist (i.e., putting the bike down) to avoid some perceived threat ahead. The crashes occurred on dry (93 percent) level (73 percent) roadways that were straight (56 percent) or curved (43 percent).
The most important finding in the present study was that five defined crash types accounted for 86 percent of all of the motorcycle crash events studied. Two of these types, ran off-road and oncoming, are predominantly the result of one or more errors (i.e. driver factors) on the part of the motorcyclist. Both typically involve a motorcyclist who leaves the appropriate travel lane(s) either running off the road or colliding with a vehicle coming from the opposite direction. Both tend to occur more frequently in rural areas, on higher speed roadways and at curves. Ran off-road crashes are very often alcohol related.…It is surprising that some people persist in thinking that most motorcycle accidents occur in. …While we should apply extra care in an intersection…the evidence suggests that we need to be even more careful in handling curves.”
Consider these data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) Report entitled: “Traffic Safety facts on all traffic fatalities in the US during the 1994 year” … Motorcycle operator error was identified as a contributing factor in 76 percent of fatal crashes involving motorcycles. Excessive speed was the contributing factor most often noted. 43 percent of fatally injured operators and 48 percent of fatally injured passengers were not wearing helmets at the time of the crash. Approximately one out of every five motorcycles operators involved in a fatal crash in 1994 was driving with an invalid license at the time of the collision. Motorcycle operators involved in fatal crashes in 1994 had a higher blood alcohol concentration (BAC) level (28.9 percent) than any other type of motor vehicle driver.