Montana Motorcycle Fatality Statistics
Montana reported a total of 24 motorcycle deaths in 2015. This information comes from a report by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). This number is down from 2013 with 35 and 2012 with 30.
Of those who died in 2015, only five were wearing helmets at the time of the accident. One person was unknown and the other 18 did not have on a helmet. Montana has a helmet law, but it only requires those who are 17 years old and younger to wear one.
The state had a 22 percent helmet usage rate in 2015, which saved three lives. It was estimated that another seven lives could have been saved if the rate went up to 100 percent.
In 2014, Montana registered 183,894 motorcycles with a fatality rate per 100,000 of 12.51, which is considered very low compared to other states. Furthermore, this rate is a major decrease from 2011 when it was 42.54 and less than one-fourth the number of registrations.
The majority of people who died in a motorcycle crash in 2015 were in the 50-59 age range with 11 for the year. Only one fatality was under 20 years old and one in the 40-49 age range.
Only 14 counties in Montana reported a motorcycle-related death in 2015. All of these counties had fewer than six for the year. The counties were scattered throughout the state with a larger concentration in the western portion of the state.
Flathead County reported two deaths for the year, which is up slightly from the year before with one but down from 2013 with four. It was the first time in the five past years that Lake County reported a motorcycle-related fatality with one. Custer County, in the eastern side of the state, reported two deaths for the year, which was also the first time any were reported in the five year report.