Where Were You On The Road And What Was It Like When You Crashed?
A rider heading up Independence Pass.
I believe this will be the last post about this Colorado MOST 2018 report on motorcycle crashes. The only tables left that I haven’t discussed have to do with what parts of the road riders were on when they crashed and what the conditions were.
With 1,247 crashes counted, the number one location was essentially anywhere except at an intersection. The table lists it as “Non-intersection.” Were they going straight, was the road curvy? No way to know. But then number two was “At intersection,” with 688 crashes counted. The lesson here should be obvious: be extra careful when you’re approaching an intersection.
Number three is “Intersection related” but it’s not obvious what that implies. There were 278 of those.
“Driveway access related” is next, with 127. So yeah, be alert at driveways, too. Heck, be alert all the time. It’s your skin we’re talking about here.
The remaining tallies are “Ramp” with 85; “Roudabout” with 24; “Alley related” with 15; and “Unknown” with 6.
And then we come to road condition. Here the preponderance is overwhelming: “Dry” with 2,341 crashes tallied. “Wet” is in second place with just 83. So OK, it seems that road condition not anywhere near the factor I would have expected it to be. That’s why you study data.
Barely one crash in 100 involved “Foreign matter.” To be specific, 24. “Wet w/visible icy road treatment” tallied only 5.
The rest were “Icy” with 3; “Snowy” with 2; “Muddy” with 1; “Slushy” with 1; and “Unknown” with 10.
Not a lot of surprises there. Not too many of us get out on our bikes when the roads are icy, snowy, muddy, or slushy. If we did I’m sure those numbers would be a lot higher.
Just to wrap up, here are some overall stats that the report broke out.
Motorcyclist Fatalities
• 103 motorcyclists were killed in motorcycle crashes in 2018, 94 were male and nine were female. Ninety-nine were motorcycle operators and four were motorcycle passengers.
• Motorcyclist fatalities represented 16.3% of Colorado’s total traffic fatalities (103 of 632).
• The number of motorcyclist fatalities remained the same in 2018 compared to 2017.
• 77 motorcycle operators involved in fatal crashes were determined to be “at fault.â€
• 39 of the fatal motorcycle crashes involved only the motorcycle and no other vehicle.
• In 2018, 54 motorcycle operators killed in a fatal crash tested positive for alcohol or drugs. Fourteen of the motorcycle operators tested positive alcohol (BAC >=0.08) only, 28 operators tested positive for drugs only, and 12 motorcycle operators tested positive for both alcohol and drugs.
• 54 motorcycle operators killed were not wearing a helmet.
If you’re reading this you weren’t one of these folks. Please don’t be one of them next year, either.
Biker Quote for Today
Sometimes the road you travel doesn’t lead to the destination you had hoped for. But if you can look back on it and still smile, then it was worth it.
Tags: Colorado motorcycle crashes 2018, motorcycle crash statistics
