(City of Iowa City news release)
05/03/22
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is partnering with the Iowa City Police Department to remind all motorists that May is Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month. Safe riding and driving practices – and cooperation from all road users – will help reduce the number of fatalities and injuries on our nation’s highways as the summer road travel season begins.
In a release from the City, NHTSA reported an over 10% increase in motorcyclist fatalities in 2020 over the previous year. An estimated 82,528 motorcyclists were injured in 2020, a 2% increase from 83,814 motorcyclists injured in 2019. In 2020, per vehicle mile traveled, motorcyclists were about 28 times more likely than passenger vehicle occupants to die in a motor vehicle crash and were 4 times more likely to be injured.
One of the primary contributing factors to motorcyclist fatalities is speeding. According to the NHTSA, over a third of all motorcycle riders involved in fatal crashes in 2020 were speeding, and over 40 percent of the fatalities were alcohol-impaired.
During Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month, the NHTSA and the City of Iowa City remind riders to drive and ride alcohol and drug-free, observe all traffic laws, obey speed limits, drive defensively, and watch for motorcyclists, especially at intersections.
While Iowa is one of the few states without a mandatory helmet law, data from 2017 estimates that nearly 750 lives could have been saved if riders were wearing a helmet.
For more information on motorcycle safety, visit www.nhtsa.gov/road-safety/motorcycles.