TTI Researchers Conduct Five-Year Motorcycle Crash Analysis

Motorcycle Crash Analysis Fact SheetAs part of a Texas Department of Transportation grant, researchers at the Texas A&M Transportation Institute conducted a five-year analysis of motorcycle crash data.

Researchers found:

  • The number of registered motorcycles doubled from 179,329 in 2000 to 445,395 in 2014. This dramatic increase suggests that crashes with motorcycles will continue to be a traffic safety issue.
  • The counties with the most motorcycle registrations were Bexar, Collin, Dallas, Denton, El Paso, Harris, Montgomery, Tarrant, and Travis, which corresponds to the most populated areas of Texas.
  • In 2015, there were over 8,000 motorcycle crashes. The severity of those crashes were classified as:
    • 6 percent fatal injury
    • 22 percent incapacitating injury
    • 38 percent non-incapacitating injury
    • 21 percent possible injury
    • 14 percent no injury
    • The percentage of crashes classified as fatal or incapacitating is similar from 2010 to 2015.
  • Overall more crashes occur in urban areas (70 percent) but rural crashes are more severe. Of rural motorcycle crashes, 36 percent resulted in a fatal or incapacitating injury compared to 23 percent in urban areas.
  • The rate of fatal or incapacitating motorcycle crashes was 8.4 per 100,000 population in 2015.

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