Risks, Part 1 - Some Numbers from the Hurt Study

What is risk?  Risk is defined as "exposure to the chance of injury or loss; a hazard or dangerous chance".  I've also seen it as "A factor, thing, element, or course involving uncertain danger; a hazard".  Simply put, risk is the chance that something bad may happen.

In motorcycling, we know that we take risks that are higher than the normal risks in driving.  This is mostly because we are on two wheels, and subject to different factors in handling and weather than drivers of four wheel vehicles.  Things like speed, sobriety, rain, other drivers... all these affect our risk level when riding.  But how do we quantify risk?  What is important to know when trying to reduce risk?  This isn't an easy thing, but we can get some clues from a large study of motorcycle accident causes published in 1981, the Hurt report.  As this first part in a series, let's take a look at only a few of the numbers from that report that can give us a clue on risk factors:

• Approximately 75% of these motorcycle accidents involved collision with another vehicle.
• In the single vehicle accidents, motorcycle rider error was the accident precipitating factor in about two-thirds of the cases (due to overbraking or running wide on a curve due to excess speed or under-cornering).
• The failure of motorists to detect and recognize motorcycles in traffic is the predominating cause of motorcycle accidents.
• Intersections are the most likely place for the motorcycle accident.
• Average pre-crash speed was 29.8 mph.
• The motorcycle riders involved in accidents are essentially without training; 92% were self-taught or learned from family or friends.  Rider training experience reduces accidents.
• >50% of the riders in the accidents had less than 5 months experience on that motorcycle.
• Almost half of the fatal accidents show alcohol involvement.
• Helmeted riders and passengers showed significantly lower head and neck injury for all types of injury, at all levels of injury severity.

Do you see some things in this list that give you some tips on how to reduce your risk of accident?  There are a number of things we talk about in the CNS group riding class that tie in to these results, and now you know why.  There are a lot more findings than this, so take a look at the full summary (or the full report if you want) if you are interested.

In the next part, we will look at the common risk factors, and how these factors add to increase our riding risk, and what we can do about that.

Safe riding,

John Henry