There were three tidbits that caught my eye in the IIHS’ latest Status Report.

In a piece about car-deer crashes:

“Most of the crash deaths occurred after a motor vehicle had struck an animal and then run off the road or a motorcyclist had fallen off a bike. Many of these deaths wouldn’t have occurred with appropriate protection. The study found that 60 percent of the people who were killed while riding in vehicles weren’t using safety belts, and 65 percent of those killed on motorcycles weren’t wearing helmets.”

In a piece about new school bus safety initiatives:

“During the past 8 years, an average of 148 people have died each year in crashes involving school buses. Only 6 of the people who died were passengers on the buses, and 5 were bus drivers. Of the remaining deaths, 106 were occupants of vehicles that collided with school buses, 26 were pedestrians, and 4 were bicyclists (1 death was unknown).”

And in a piece about motorcycle fatalities:

“Motorcyclist deaths have more than doubled since 1997, reaching a record 12 percent of the 41,059 motor vehicle crash deaths in 2007. More motorcyclists died in crashes during 2007 than in any year since the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration began collecting data in 1975 in what’s now the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS). In contrast, fewer passenger vehicle occupants (28,896) died in crashes in 2007 than in any year since FARS began. The motor vehicle death toll in 2007 was the lowest in 13 years.The rise in motorcyclist deaths continues to be pronounced among riders 40 and older (see Status Report, Nov. 21, 2006; on the web at iihs.org). During 2007, 49 percent of motorcyclists killed were 40 and older, up from 40 percent in 2000 and 14 percent in 1990.”

This entry was posted on Friday, December 5th, 2008 at 10:22 am and is filed under Risk, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.