Iowa Motorcycle Fatalities Rise in 2006

[totalmotorcycle]

Iowa Motorcycle Fatalities Rise in 2006
Thursday, January 4, 2007 - KTIV 4 News - ktiv.com



On August 23rd, 2006 a Sioux City man fleeing from police on a motorcycle, hits a sharp curve in the road and crashes into a house. Forty-six year old Timothy Carver becomes one of 56 Iowans killed in a motorcycle accident last year.

“There's new riders out there, plus a lot of what we would call retreds. They used to have a bike, but they're getting back into riding again," says Motorcycle instructor Al Bruning.

Motorcycle sales reached a 30 year high in 2005. So, it's really no surprise to experts that fatalities have also increased over the decades.

"Motorcycle deaths and injuries seem to track very closely to the rise and fall of motorcycle registrations,” says Scott Falb, or the Iowa Department of Transportation.

The 56 fatalties reported for 2006 is the highest number to come out of the Iowa DOT office in 18 years. This latest statistic may prove what experts already know... that riding a motorcycle can be more dangerous than a car. In fact, bikers are eight times more likely to be injured and 34 times more likely to die in a traffic accident, compared to someone in a car.

Motorcycle accidents are on the rise, but the rate of car accidents remains stagnant. The estimated number of lives lost on Iowa roads in 2006 is nearly 440 people.

The average over the last five years in 426.