Fatal Motorcycle Stats Alabama
According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), the motorcycle occupants’ rate of deaths in Alabama amounts to 13.7 per a hundred thousand population segment. This is significantly high when compared to the national rate of 7.0.
According to a study by the University of Alabama, deaths from traffic crashes in AL increased by a quarter in 2016 compared to 2015. There was a total of 1,058 traffic fatalities in the state. This represents an increase of 24.6% from 2015. There were 142,532 total traffic collisions in Alabama in 2016 as compared to 149,339 in 2015.
Causes of Motor Vehicle Accidents
University of Alabama researchers also report that the most important factors driving the increase in traffic accidents include speed, safety belts, distracted driving and pedestrian faults. More crashes with speeds faster than 50mph were reported in 2016 as compared to 2015. The highest increase was reported at a speed category of 91mph or over which resulted in 33 fatal crashes and 44 deaths in 2016. 403 people died because they were not wearing their seatbelts. It is estimated that half of these fatalities could have been avoided if these individuals had used proper restraints. 20% of fatal crashes in 2016 were caused by distracted driving.
Costs of Accidents
A cost of $1.20 billion was incurred due to crash-related deaths in Alabama in one year. Out of this total amount, $283 million were related to motor vehicle occupants, $113 million to motorcyclists, $100 million to pedestrians and $5 million to bicyclists. $527 million was spent on accidents involving young adults, $467 million on adults, $111 million on teens, $65 million on children and $27 million on older adults.
Motorcycle Accidents
According to The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s Highway Loss Data Institute, there were 64 motorcyclist deaths in Alabama in 2015. Statistics do show however that the number of motorcyclist fatalities in Alabama have decreased from 98 in 2011 to 67 in 2015.
Compared to other states, motorcyclists accounted for less than 10% of all deaths in Alabama (8%) of total motor vehicle deaths. There was an increase in motorcyclist fatalities among young adults (21-25 years) from 9 in 2014 to 15 in 2015. Surprisingly, women motorcyclist fatalities increased in Alabama from 5 in 2014 to 10 in 2015.
Motorcyclist fatalities by age in 2015 in Alabama are as follows:
<20 1
20-29 19
30-39 11
40-49 15
50-59 15
>59 5
Causes of Motorcycle Accidents
Motorcycles are smaller in size and less stable when compared to four-wheeled vehicles. They also lack the protective structure that often plays a role in minimizing injuries in case of a crash. That is a primary reason why fatality rates for motorcyclists are higher.
Negligence of car drivers may be a major factor in motorcycle accidents. Distracted drivers can collide with motorcycles either because their eyes are off the road or their hands are off the wheel. Drivers that engage in texting are 23 times more likely to get into a crash as compared to those who focus on the road without any distractions.