From helmet laws to catastrophic health insurance, and from Congress to city councils, anti motorcycle legislation comes in many forms and many directions. But is all this attention really necessary?  Are motorcyclists really dying in epidemic proportions, and are they draining the coffers of local state and federal government?

Anyone who straddles a two wheeler faces the risks of motorcycling, but according to the latest figures from the National Safety Council (NSC) in its publication, Accident Facts - 1991 Edition, these perceived dangers may be ill founded. In 1990 motorcycles represented 2.2 percent of the overall U.S. vehicle population yet were involved in only 0.3 percent of all traffic accidents, a significantly low rate of involvement.

Furthermore, only 2.53 percent of all registered motorcycles were reportedly involved in accidents in 1990, and only 3.06 percent of those resulted in fatalities.

At a total of 2,900 for 1990, motorcyclist fatalities comprised 6 percent of the total vehicular fatalities, and ranked well behind passenger cars - 25,700, - trucks and buses - 8,200, and even pedestrians - 7,400.

Remember when people used to say that you shouldn't be afraid to fly in an airplane because you were more likely to die in an automobile accident than a plane crash?  Applying this logic, more people should be ditching their cars in favor of the relative safety of a motorcycle.  Your chances of having an accident in an automobile are 110 times more than on a motorcycle, and you are 10 times more likely to die of a head injury in an automobile.

Better trade in those boats, too, because nearly twice as many people drowned last year as died in motorcycle crashes.  And forget about walking because well over two times as many pedestrians were killed in accidents as motorcyclists. Besides, if you're on your feet, you are also more than four times as likely to trip and die in a fall.

Combining the already low number of fatalities (which is at its lowest point in twenty years) with the fact that motorcycling's safety record is improving faster than any other vehicle group. It is ironic that motorcyclists are being singled out as a legislative priority. Why are motorcyclists being targeted when they are the smallest group of traffic users, have the lowest rate of accident involvement, are the lowest category for fatalities and have the most improved safety record of all vehicles?

Why not write your local, state and federal lawmakers and ask them why?
 
 

Total U.S. Fatalities	2,167,999
Motorcycle Fatalities	2,900
Heart Disease	765,156
Cancer	465,048
Stroke	150,517
Accidents	97,100
Motor Vehicles	46,300
Passenger Cars	25,700
Trucks	8,200
Pedestrians	7,400
MOTORCYCLES	2,900
Bicyclists	1,000
Buses, taxis, tractors	130
Other	970
Falls	12,096
Poison	5,353
Drowning	4,966
Fires/Burns	4,965
Surgical Complications	2,858
Other	20,562
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease	82,853
Pneumonia	77,662
Diabetes Mellitus	40,368
Suicide	30,407
Chronic Liver Disease, Cirrhosis	26,409
Homicide	22,032
AIDS	16,602