Massachusetts Motorcycle Fatality Statistics
Massachusetts reported a total of 46 deaths in motorcycle-related incidents in 2015. This number is consistent with previous years with the exception of 2012 when there were 56. The low point for the last decade came in 2011 when there were 40, and the high point was in 2007 when there were 62. This information comes from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
The majority of victims were wearing helmets at the time of the crash with seven not wearing one. Massachusetts has a universal helmet law, which means all riders must wear a helmet at all times and not just those under a certain age.
According to the NHTSA report, the state has an 85 percent helmet usage rate, which saved 23 lives in 2015. If that rate went up to 100 percent, another three lives could have been saved.In 2014, there were 125,270 registered motorcycles with a fatality rate per 100,000 of 37.52, which is on the lower end compared to other states. The rate has fluctuated quite a bit by going up one year and down the next while the number of registrations has stayed nearly the same except in 2011 when there were over 159,007 registered.
The majority of fatality victims were in the 20-29 age range with 23. This number is significantly higher than for any other age range with second place going to 30-39 with eight. The lowest number of victims were those between 50 and 59 with two. For riders under 20 years old, there were four fatalities.
Most counties reported at least one motorcycle death in 2015 with three counties recording at least six. Middlesex County recorded seven, which doubled from the previous two years. Worcester County had nine, which was the same as in 2014. Plymouth County had seven, which was down from nine in 2014.