The Texas Motorcycle Safety Coalition (TMSC) serves as a public forum for addressing strategies to improve motorcycle safety; discusses effective programs, regulations, and other opportunities to improve motorcycle safety; reviews, proposes, and makes recommendations concerning motorcycle-related legislation; and serves to promote rider safety and inform the public about being aware of motorcycles and sharing the road safely.

Meetings for the new year will be held in College Station on the following days:

• November 15
• April 25
• June 27
• August 29

More details will follow prior to these meeting dates. Like us on Facebook to stay up to date on all our events.

The Texas Motorcycle Safety Coalition met on September 13 to discuss a number of items. Highlights include:

• Opening Remarks and New Member Introduction
• TxDOT Update
• 2019 Motorcycle Safety Forum Discussion
• Moving Forward with Motorcycle Safety: Training Initiative
• DPS Motorcycle Program Updates and Discussion
• Open Discussion & Adjourn

The meeting minutes are now available to download.

The TMSC serves as a public forum for addressing strategies to improve motorcycle safety; discusses effective programs, regulations, and other opportunities to improve motorcycle safety; reviews, proposes, and makes recommendations concerning motorcycle-related legislation; and serves to promote rider safety and inform the public about being aware of motorcycles and sharing the road safely.

Find minutes from other meetings here.

Eva Shipp, Ph.D., and Amber Trueblood, Ph.D., of the Texas A&M Transportation Institute led an in-depth analysis of motorcycle crashes from 2010-2017 for a Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) sponsored study. The purpose of the project was to understand the complex nature of motorcycle crashes in Texas through the development of a motorcycle crash database and in-depth analysis. This project updates and builds on a prior analysis completed in 2016. This project added the development of a curve tool to better identify curve-related crashes, as well as an analysis focused on scooters and mopeds. Major project findings include:

• On average there are 9,601 riders affected by a crash annually with an average of 479 fatalities and 1,988 suspected serious injuries annually.
• Motorcycle crashes are more severe than other types of crashes
  • 27% of motorcycle crashes were fatal or suspected serious injury compared to 3% of non-motorcycle crashes.
• Impairment is associated with motorcycle crash severity
  • 44% of fatal motorcycle crashes involved an impaired rider
  • 39% of DUI motorcycle operators with a fatal or serious suspected injury crash occurred on a crash compared to 24% of non-DUI motorcycle operators with a fatal or suspected serious injury crash
• Speeding is associated with motorcycle crash severity
  • 30% of fatal motorcycle crashes involved speeding as a contributing factor
• Rural motorcycle crashes are more severe and are more likely to involve an animal or curve compared to urban motorcycle crashes
  • 35% of rural motorcycle crashes were fatal or suspected serious injury compared to 22% of urban motorcycle crashes
  • 37% of rural fatal or suspected serious crashes involved an animal compared to 17% of urban fatal or suspected serious crashes
  • 56% of rural fatal or suspected serious crashes involved a curve compared to 44% of urban fatal or suspected serious crashes
• Riders who crash on curves die 8 times as often as non-motorcyclists
  • 8% of riders who crashed on a curved died compared to 1% of non-motorcyclists
• There were 2,531 operators and passengers of mopeds or scooters involved in crashes from 2010-2017
  • 52% of moped or scooter riders killed were not wearing a helmet
  • 42% of moped or scooter riders did not use a helmet compared to 36% of motorcyclists
  • 78% of fatal and suspected serious moped or scooter injuries occurred in urban areas

Download a PDF of the full report.

Download the fact sheets:

• Motorcycle Facts – Crashes (2010-2017)
• Motorcycle Facts – Rider Factors
• Motorcycle Facts – Moped Factors
• Motorcycle Facts – Curves (2010-2017)