Washington Motorcycle Fatality Statistics
According to information provided by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), Washington had a total of 77 deaths in motorcycle accidents for 2015. This number is up from the previous two years but down from 2012 when there were 83, which happened to be the highest number for the past decade.
Almost all of the victims were wearing helmets when the accidents occurred. Only four did not have one on, and one was unknown. Washington is one of the states to have a universal helmet law, which covers all riders. Everyone must wear a helmet when riding a motorcycle in Washington.
Because of the law, the state had a 96 percent rate for helmet wear in 2015. A total of 43 lives were saved that year due to helmet usage while one more might have been saved if the rate went up to 100 percent. Washington has had the rate at 100 percent twice in the past six years, once in 2011 and once in 2014.
Of those who died in 2015, the majority were over the age of 59 with 21 victims. Another 17 were in the 20-29 age group. Only one was under 21 years of age.
The state had 229,823 registered motorcycles in 2014, which is up from previous years. The fatality rate per 100,000 was at 30.02, which was down from recent years.
Very half of the countries in Washington reported at least one motorcycle death in 2015. Two counties had between six and 15 while one county was above that amount. The majority of deaths were in the western half of the state. King County came in with the most at 18 for the year. This number is up from 12 in 2014. The two counties surrounding King had the next highest totals. Snohomish County on the northern side had 11 for the year, which was almost triple the previous year. Pierce County, located on the southern side, reported 10 for 2015, which was up slightly from 2014 but consistent with prior years, according to the information from NHTSA.