Utah Motorcycle Fatality Statistics
Utah reported a total of 36 motorcycle fatalities in 2015. This number was down from 2014 but up from several years prior to that. In fact, the lowest number of deaths for the past decade came in 2010 with 21. This information comes from a report by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
Fifteen of the victims were wearing their helmets at the time of the motorcycle crash. Another 18 did not have them on while three were unknown. This trend is consistent with previous years, except in 2012 when more people had helmets than those who did not.
Utah does have a helmet law, but it only requires riders who are 17 years old and younger to wear a helmet. In 2015, the state had a usage rate of 45, which saved ten lives. If that rate went up to 100 percent, another seven lives might have been saved.
The state had 74,091 motorcycles registered in 2014. The fatality rate per 100,000 bikes was 60.74, which was an increase from the previous three years. At the same time, the number of registered bikes also went up.
The majority of victims were in the 50-59 age group in 2015 with 10. This number is double the number in the 40-49 and over 59 age groups. The lowest number was in the under 20 age group with three deaths.
About half of the counties in Utah reported at least one fatality for 2015. Only one reported more than five deaths. Most of the counties reporting were in the northern corner of the state. Salt Lake County took the top spot for most fatalities with 12 for the year. This number is the same as in 2014, but it was an increase from the three previous years.