Alaska Motorcycle Accident Statistics
Alaska is the largest state in the U.S., but it has some of the fewest motorcycle rider deaths of any state. In fact, 65 people died in traffic crashes in the state in 2015. Of those, 37 were occupants of passenger vehicles, 12 were pedestrians, and 11 were riding motorcycles. Drunk driving was a factor in 23 deaths and speeding took the lives of 22.
Alaska requires all motorcycle operators under the age of 18 to wear a helmet, as must all passengers, any person with a motorcycle permit, and any person who is taking the motorcycle road test. Of the 11 people who died in motorcycle accidents, four were not wearing a helmet. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates that at least four lives were saved by helmet use in 2015 and another two lives could have been saved if all riders wore their helmets every time they traveled.
Motorcycle fatalities were 17 percent of all fatality crash statistics for the state in 2015. This does show improvement over 2013 in which motorcycle fatalities were reported as 18 percent of the total statistic. It is, however, an increase from 2014 that had only 11 percent of the total fatalities for the state as deaths that involved motorcycles.
In 2015, more riders died than the number were killed in crashes in each of the four years prior. It is also the first year in which more young riders died than older riders. In fact, four riders were between the ages of 20 and 29 when they were killed, two were in their 30s, two were in their 40s, one was in their 50s, and two were aged 60 or older.
Alaska has only three boroughs which reported motorcycle fatalities. Two of the boroughs, Fairbanks North Star Borough and Matanuska-Susitna both reported 1 to 5 fatalities. The highest number of fatalities was declared for Anchorage Borough with 6 to 15 fatalities. Anchorage is the most populous of all the boroughs in the state.