Ohio Fatal Motorcycle Accident Statistics
Ohio reported a total of 1110 traffic deaths for 2015, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). This total shows a rate below the national average per 100,000 population. The US average rate is 19.92 while Ohio’s rate is 9.56. Motorcycle fatalities make up 15 percent of the total with 168. This number is a dramatic increase from 2014 when 136 were reported.
A state law in Ohio requires that all passengers age 17 and younger wear a helmet or anyone who has had a motorcycle license for under a year. Other riders are not required to wear a helmet, which is one reason more than twice as many people who are killed in a motorcycle accident were not wearing a helmet. That results in a 33 percent helmet usage rate for 2015. This is steady with previous years. While an estimated 33 lives were saved during the year with helmet use, another 42 could have been saved if the use was at 100 percent.
Five people under the age of 20 died in a motorcycle crash for 2015 while 44 were between the ages of 50 and 59. These two groups represent the extreme, but deaths occurred across the board. A total of 28 people died over the age of 59 while 38 fatalities were between 40 and 49. The second lowest total was for those in the 30-39 range with 17 deaths.
Over half of Ohio counties had at least one motorcycle-related death during 2015 while six counties reported between six and fifteen fatalities. Lake County reported six deaths for the year, which was a significant number because the prior year showed zero. On the other hand, Summit County had seven, which was a slight decrease from the nine reported in 2014. Montgomery County was another area that showed an increase with a jump from seven in 2014 to 10 in 2015.