Rusty Bongard via ABATE Region 21
Photo by Lee Hershfield
What if I were to tell you that the fatality rate for those of us who drive a car or truck is 14 out of every 100,000 drivers? That’s a distressing statistic but it’s far below what it once was.
Now, what if I were to tell you that there’s a vehicle on the road today that increases your chances of being killed while driving it by more than 500 percent, producing an average of 72 fatalities for every 100,000 users?
That vehicle would represent a pretty silly and dangerous way to get around, don’t you think? But wait — there’s more. What if this vehicle produced 11 percent of all driving fatalities, effectively erasing gains made from years of declining motor-vehicle deaths? Would you want to drive that vehicle? Would you want your loved ones to drive it?
Surprisingly, registrations for this vehicle increased by more than 63 percent from 1997 to 2005, with the fatalities that resulted rising at a disproportionately high rate.
Add to all that the fact that this vehicle can emit 10 to 20 times the quantity of nitrogen oxide than standard automobiles because so many of these vehicles don’t require a catalytic converter. In some states, they don’t even require insurance.
This deathtrap, of course, is the motorcycle, and it’s time for the grownups to take a stand and say enough is enough.
The above statistics come from a U.S. Department of Transportation study released in October 2007 entitled, “Action Plan To Reduce Motorcycle Fatalities.” Ironically, the welcome page is from then-U.S. Secretary of Transportation Mary E. Peters, who talks about breaking her collarbone while riding one.
I’m not a motorcyclist. What, then, gives me the right to call for the end of what many millions of Americans love to do? Well, first, there is the emotional factor. A friend’s older brother — only in his early 20s — was killed in a head-on collision. Another friend’s father shattered his leg going around a curve. A few weeks ago, a friend was hit by a car and suffered a puncturedlung and a partially collapsed lung, two shattered vertebra, a broken scapula and clavicle, fivebroken ribs — some in multiple places — and has lost feeling in his lower back and left leg. He’s 23.
Then, there’s the economic impact that motorcycle crashes have on you and me. The cost to us all in terms of increased health-insurance costs — if not direct taxpayer costs — to cover those people injured in and by motorcycle accidents who can’t afford to pay. The increased cost of auto insurance from damage inflicted and received, not to mention untold billions in insurance payouts to motorcycle drivers. The court time taken up by accidents involving motorcycle drivers. The cost of accident-scene public services such as police and fire.
It’s good news that motorcycle fatalities dropped 24 percent in Florida in 2009, and yet, the Florida Department of Transportation estimates Floridians will still have to pay $190 million to cover unpaid costs associated with motorcycle crashes this year alone, as reported by WFTV News in Orlando.
Look at the above statistics again. If a certain model of car produced that kind of horrendous increase in deaths — 72 fatalities per 100,000 compared to the car and truck norm of 14 per 100,000 — the public would demand an instant halt to the production and sale of that flawed vehicle.
Driving is not a right — it’s a privilege, granted by us, the American people, to those deemed responsible enough to exercise that privilege. We are doing a disservice to our fellow Americans when we indulge their interests in an inherently unsafe vehicle. Maybe there was a time in the past when cars and trucks drove slowly enough or were small enough to allow the luxury of a vehicle that has no seat belt, no door or hood or metal around it. But no more.
Beyond the actual costs to taxpayers is the realization that we’re losing more than 4,300 motorcycle drivers a year nationally who would have been far more likely to survive with airbags and crumple zones around them.
And I won’t even mention the obvious stupidity of not legally requiring — or wanting — the wearing of helmets.
Perhaps it’s time for those people who have lost a loved one or friend in a motorcycle accident to stand up and ask that, at the very least, these vehicles be restricted to off-road areas and tracks. Friends try to keep friends from engaging in needless risks, and that’s what motorcycles are, even when operated by well-trained, responsible drivers.
Contact Hugh Curran at kanga573@aol.com.