Operating a motorcycle in New York City and anywhere else in the United States for that matter requires a high degree of situational awareness as well as driving skill and compliance with traffic laws.
Even when motorcyclists exercise good judgment in sharing the road with other vehicles, there is no guarantee that it will be reciprocated by cars and trucks.
In that day-to-day environment, a motorcycle crash can result in serious injuries, and regrettably, a percentage of motorcycle accidents prove to be fatal.
For this and other reasons, New York has a mandatory helmet law. Other than clothing and shoes, the rest of the motorcycle rider’s body is exposed to the perils of a motorcycle wreck.
If you or a family member suffered injuries in a motorcycle wreck, or if you’ve tragically lost a loved one in that kind of lamentable incident, contact a New York Personal Injury Lawyer so that your rights can be fully protected.
Based on the latest available data, from the National Highway Traffic Administration, 6,218 motorcyclists were killed in crashes in 2022, constituting nearly 15 percent of all traffic fatalities, even though only 3 percent of registered vehicles are motorcycles.
Making matters worse when assessing motorcycle accident rates, the gloomy 2022 total apparently constituted an approximately 50-year high in motorcycle death.
Overall, about 83,000 motorcycle riders were injured in the same year, so that would appear to suggest that about seven percent of these encounters result in fatalities.
The U.S. Department of Transportation agency also noted that motorcyclists were about 22 times more likely than passenger vehicle occupants to die in a motor vehicle crash and four times more likely to be injured in them.
If you’re keeping an eye on the calendar especially with regard to summer vacation planning, motorcycle accidents in June and July nationally sadly led to death in 2022 the most, with 777 and 771 fatalities, respectively, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
Nearly 50 percent of national fatalities in 2022 occurred on weekends, and nearly two-thirds overall were in multi-vehicle accidents.
In addition to the information presented above, the National Safety Council reports that motorcycle fatality rate increased by 1 percent from 2021 to 2022.
Over the last 10 years, however, deaths have increased by a staggering 32 percent.
Most motorcycle accidents that result in fatalities appear to overwhelmingly occur on urban roads, which motorcycling residents and visitors to New York City need to take into consideration.
Approximately 200 motorcyclists succumb each year in the state of New York in fatal motorcycle crashes.
An estimated 66 percent of motorcyclists (including passengers) in the United States wear Department of Transportation-compliant helmets.
NHTSA claims that helmets are 37 percent effective in preventing motorcycle fatalities (the success rate is 41 percent for motorcycle passengers).
In real-world and stark terms, that suggests that 37 motorcyclists could have been spared death out of every 100 that tragically perished in a fatal motorcycle accident.
New York was the first state in the nation to enact a universal motorcycle helmet law which went into effect on January 1, 1967.
When it comes to safety issues on the road, defensive motorcycling is the guiding philosophy.
While motorcyclists have no control over the behavior, or misbehavior, of other drivers, there are a number of measures they can take to minimize the potential danger of motorcycle crashes.
Prior to 2022, national per-year deaths on motorcycles in recent years were as follows:
| Year | Number of motorcycles accidents |
|---|---|
| 2012 | 4,986 |
| 2013 | 4,692 |
| 2015 | 4,594 |
| 2016 | 5,337 |
| 2017 | 5,226 |
| 2018 | 5,038 |
| 2019 | 5,044 |
| 2020 | 5,620 |
| 2021 | 6,143 |
If you have been involved in a motorcycle crash and sustained serious injuries because of another driver’s negligence, careless, or deliberate recklessness, if not lawbreaking, you may be entitled to compensation.
Given the motorcycle accident rates, if someone close to you has tragically died in this kind of scenario, know that qualified members of the victim’s family may be entitled to monetary damages as well.
The experienced motorcycle accident lawyers at Spektor & Associates, P.C., dedicate themselves to fighting for the compensation that injured motorcycle riders deserve. Contact us today to schedule a free consultation.
