III. NATIONAL TRENDS
Registrations and Miles of Travel
Table 1, on the following page, shows the number of motorcycles registered in the United States in the 20 year period 1983-2002 and the estimated national annual miles of travel for motorcycles. The table also shows the number of motorcyclists killed each year and the fatality rates per motorcycle registration and miles of travel.
Figure 3 charts the trends in national motorcycle registrations and miles of travel. Motorcycle registrations in the United States peaked in the early 1980s at more than 5.5 million, then declined gradually but steadily until the mid 1990s. Registrations have increased in more recent years. The year 2002 motorcycle registration level of just over 5 million is the highest since 1986. Estimated annual motorcycle miles of travel have trended upward slightly over the past two decades. Peak usage was recorded in 1994 when the average motorcycle was driven 2,726 miles. The 2002 figure was 1,909 miles per registered motorcycle.
|
Year |
Registrations - US |
Travel - US |
Fatalities |
Fatalities per 10,000 Registered |
Fatalities per 10M VMT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1983 |
5,585,112 |
8,760 |
4,104 |
7.3 |
4.7 |
|
1984 |
5,479,822 |
8,784 |
4,431 |
8.1 |
5.0 |
|
1985 |
5,444,404 |
9,086 |
4,417 |
8.1 |
4.9 |
|
1986 |
5,198,993 |
9,397 |
4,309 |
8.3 |
4.6 |
|
1987 |
4,885,772 |
9,506 |
3,834 |
7.8 |
4.0 |
|
1988 |
4,584,284 |
10,024 |
3,492 |
7.6 |
3.5 |
|
1989 |
4,420,420 |
10,371 |
3,036 |
6.9 |
2.9 |
|
1990 |
4,259,462 |
9,557 |
3,129 |
7.3 |
3.3 |
|
1991 |
4,177,365 |
9,178 |
2,703 |
6.5 |
2.9 |
|
1992 |
4,065,118 |
9,557 |
2,291 |
5.6 |
2.4 |
|
1993 |
3,977,856 |
9,906 |
2,336 |
5.9 |
2.4 |
|
1994 |
3,756,555 |
10,240 |
2,190 |
5.8 |
2.1 |
|
1995 |
3,767,029 |
9,797 |
2,144 |
5.7 |
2.2 |
|
1996 |
3,871,599 |
9,920 |
2,046 |
5.3 |
2.1 |
|
1997 |
3,826,373 |
10,076 |
2,028 |
5.3 |
2.0 |
|
1998 |
3,879,450 |
10,260 |
2,186 |
5.6 |
2.1 |
|
1999 |
4,152,433 |
10,584 |
2,374 |
5.7 |
2.2 |
|
2000 |
4,346,068 |
10,479 |
2,783 |
6.4 |
2.7 |
|
2001 |
4,903,056 |
9,529 |
3,077 |
6.5 |
3.2 |
|
2002 |
5,004,156 |
9,553 |
3,150 |
6.3 |
3.3 |
Source: FHWA for Registrations and Miles of Travel; NHTSA (FARS)
for Fatalities. At the time of the present report, 2002 was the latest year for
which motorcycle registration data were available. In 2003, 3,534 motorcyclists
were killed, a 13% increase from 2002. The fatality figures are for operators
and passengers of motorcycles defined in FARS as body type code 80.
Fatalities
Table 1 and figure 4 show the annual numbers of motorcyclists killed in the United States. Fatality data are from FARS using the vehicle body type code 80. This excludes mopeds, all terrain vehicles, and similar vehicles from the tabulations.
 |
Motorcyclist fatalities in the United States reached an historic high of more than 4,900 in 1980. This was followed by a long-term downward trend that yielded nearly a 60 percent decrease in the number of motorcyclists killed annually by the mid 1990s. In more recent years, the number of fatalities has been increasing. The 2003 figure (3,534) is 74 percent higher than the low recorded in 1997 (2,028). |
 |
Figure 5 shows the rate of motorcyclist fatalities per 10,000 registered motorcycles and per 10 million miles of travel. These rates tend to parallel one another as well as the basic fatality trend (figure 4). That is, fatalities and the fatality rates all declined during the 1980s into the mid 1990s and have been increasing since. These data suggest that as motorcycle registrations increase, motorcyclists' deaths increase, as do their fatality rates. Conversely, when registrations decline, fatalities and fatality rates also decline. |
In its publications dealing with motorcycles (for example, Traffic Safety Facts), NHTSA uses FARS body type codes 80-89 when discussing motorcycles. This yields small differences in fatality totals and rates from the figures reported here. The use of only body type code 80 in this report maintains consistency with other data sources such as the Florida motor vehicle crash database.
In 2003, there were 1,506 more motorcyclists killed nationally than were killed in 1997. All States except Connecticut, Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire, New Jersey, and Vermont recorded increases comparing 2003 with 1997. The 5 States that repealed universal helmet laws during this period experienced 502 more fatalities -- Texas (+201, +180%), Florida (+180, +101%), Louisiana (+55, +290%), Arkansas (+36, +200%), and Kentucky (+30, +125%). Shankar (2001) reports that much of the national increase in fatalities recorded in the period 1990-2001 is among age 40 and older riders and riders of larger engine size motorcycles.
The riding season is longer in States with more temperate climates. In 2002, the “southern tier” States, California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, and Georgia, recorded about 17 percent of their motorcyclist deaths in December, January, and February, while the “northern tier” States, Washington, Montana, North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine, recorded just over 2 percent of their fatalities during these months.
Motorcycle registrations per population follow a different pattern. In the southern tier States in 2002, there were 14.5 registered motorcycles per 1,000 residents while the northern tier States had 20.0 registered motorcycles per 1,000 population. That is, population based registration rates tend to be higher where the riding season tends to be shorter.
In 2002, there were 1,189 motorcyclists killed in the southern tier States while 714 were killed in the northern tier. The fatality rate per 10,000 registered motorcycles was 8.1 in the southern tier and 4.8 in the northern States. The southern States, therefore, tend to have longer riding seasons, more fatalities per registered motorcycle but lower per capita registration rates.
