Injuries and Fatalities in Accidents

It should come as no surprise that there are more fatalities and injuries involved in motorcycle accidents than there are in car accidents. The main reason behind this is that motorcycle riders lack the protective shell of a car’s frame and airbags to cushion them from any accident. As a result, there are more motorcycle injuries and fatalities than there are car injuries and fatalities.

On the whole, motorcycles have a higher fatality rate per distance travelled than cars. In 2006, according to numbers released by the NHTSA, 18.06 cars for every 100,000 on the road were involved in fatal accidents. At the same time, 55.82 per 100,000 motorcycles on the road were involved in fatal accidents. This is a shade over three times as many vehicles in fatal accidents.

In 2005, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, or NHTSA, reported 4,008 motorcycle riders were killed on the highways of the United States during 2004. That figure is an 8% increase from 2003. While this sounds awful, car accident fatalities also increased by 10% in the same period.

There are more than four million motorcycles registered within the United States alone. The fatal accidents involving motorcycles account for approximately five percent of all of the highway fatalities that occur each year. At the same time, motorcycles make up only two percent of all registered vehicles in the United States.

Contact Us

If you or a loved one has been injured in a motorcycle accident, contact the Iowa motorcycle accident lawyers of the Pete Leehey Law Firm, P.C., at 877-209-9452.