Rider deaths down

Motorcycle fatalities fell 10% last year according to latest government figures. It’s the second year in a row of improvement after a fall of 15% in 2010.

Rider deaths were down 33% in 2011 compared to the average number killed per year from 2005-2009. 

The motorcycle fatality rate – taking into account miles travelled by bike – was down even more, by 11% between 2010 and 2011.

Meanwhile car fatalities rose by 6%.

But serious injuries for motorcyclists rose by 10% while all rider casualties were up 8% in a year.

The figures also show that 48% of crashes between motorcycles and cars were the result of the car driver failing to look properly.

Failing to look properly was the most frequent cause of crashes for all vehicles except motorcycles.  Motorcyclists were most likely to crash through ‘loss of control’ and also most likely to be the victim of someone else failing to look.