MOTORCYCLISTS & ALCOHOL IMPAIRED DRIVING
In 2013, a study by ITSMR found that motorcycle licenses, motorcycle registrations and the three-year moving averages for alcohol-related fatal and personal injury motorcycle crashes were all on a general upward trend during the five-year period, 2008-2012. The study further found that 27% of the fatal MC crashes and 3% of the personal injury MC crashes were alcohol-related.
Because MC licenses and registrations have been on a downward trend over the past few years, the Governor’s Traffic Safety Committee (GTSC) recently funded ITSMR to update its 2013 study. This 2019 study focused on police-reported fatal and personal injury (F&PI) motorcycle crashes, with an emphasis on alcohol-related F&PI motorcycle crashes, that occurred during the five-year period 2014-2018.
Full Report:
MOTORCYCLISTS AND ALCOHOL-IMPAIRED DRIVING (Published November 2019)
Key Findings
- Over the five year period, 2014-2018, 26% of the fatal MC crashes were alcohol-related; less than 3% of the personal injury MC crashes were alcohol-related.
- 51% of the impaired motorcyclists were ages 21-39; 46% of the impaired motorcyclists had “unsafe speed” reported as a contributing factor.