WASHINGTON, D. C. (Wednesday, May 2, 2018) –– “No Country for Old Men?” Better think again. “Older and middle-age bikers” rule the road. But their age might be catching up with them a bit more than they would like to think. The age of motorcyclists is rising, as well as “their rate of injuries and fatalities.” All told, six out of ten motorcycle riders and passengers (64 persons or 59.8 percent) killed in traffic crashes in Virginia during 2017 were 41-years-old or older, cautions AAA Mid-Atlantic. Of that tally, 45 of the 107 persons who lost their lives in crashes involving motorcycles in Virginia last year were 51-years-old and older. The older cohort, 51 and above, comprised 42.1 percent of all motorcycle fatalities in Virginia a year ago, although motorcycle registrations in the Commonwealth dropped by nearly 2,000 during 2017.

America has become a country of older men and women riding astride motorcycles. Riders 40-years-old and older comprised nearly half (45.8 percent) of all motorcycle fatalities in Maryland during the five-year period from 2012 to 2016, reveals a AAA Mid-Atlantic analysis of data from both the Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration and the Maryland State Highway Safety Office. Of that tally, motorcycle riders 50 years and older comprised almost a third, 28.3 percent, of motorcycle deaths in the state from 2012 to 2016.

“Along with late bloomers from age 40 to 60, and above, riding or learning to ride for the first time, the number of older persons returning to riding a motorcycle is also spiking. So too is the number of fatal crashes involving mature motorcyclists,” said John B. Townsend II, AAA Mid-Atlantic’s Manager of Public and Government Affairs. “Plus, older bikers are three times more prone to suffer serious injuries in motorcycle crashes than younger motorcyclists. With more Baby Boomers hopping aboard motorcycles these days, getting proper training is imperative. Completing a motorcycle safety course can save lives and limbs.”

Spring’s warmer sun was a lollygagger, but that didn’t stop bikers from hitting the highways. The riding season got off to a bloody start. In April, a 27-year-old off-duty officer with the Metropolitan Police Department was killed in a motorcycle crash on westbound Piscataway Road in Clinton, Maryland. The three-year veteran was riding his own motorcycle. This past Saturday, a 41-year-old motorcyclist was killed in a collision with a vehicle that reportedly failed to stop at a stop sign in the Brandywine area, investigators say. In late March, a 34-year-old motorcyclist was killed in Alexandria after striking a light pole on King Street.

Like robins, with the warmer weather comes more motorcycles on area roadways. Motorcycle fatalities soared to the highest level in a decade in Virginia during 2017, according to Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) data. All told, 107 motorcyclists lost their lives in crashes on Virginia roads in 2017, as motorcycle fatalities increased nearly 50 percent over 2016, when 72 motorcyclists died in motorcycle-related crashes across Virginia, according to the 2017 Virginia Traffic Crash Facts report. Of the 1,794 motorcycle riders injured in crashes in 2017, almost half, 830 bikers or 46.2 percent, were age 41 or above. Motorcycle crashes comprised 1.7 percent of all traffic crashes in the state, but 12.7 percent all fatalities.

Approximately 80 motorcyclists, including two motorcycle passengers, were killed in motorcycle-

related crashes in Maryland during 2017, according to preliminary data. Year over year, it represents a five percent increase in Maryland’s motorcycle fatality rate. An average of 67 persons perished in motorcycle-related crashes annually in Maryland in the five-year period from 2012 to 2016, according to statistics from the Maryland Department of Transportation. Seventy-seven persons were killed in motorcycle-involved crashes in Maryland in 2012, compared to 62 persons in 2013. The fatality rate increased again to 66 persons in 2014, 71 motorcyclists in 2015, and 75 motorcycle riders in 2016.

During the same period of time, an average of 1,153 persons sustained injuries yearly in traffic crashes involving motorcycle riders. What is more, Prince George’s County is the epicenter of motorcycle fatalities in the state and region. As proof, 73 motorcyclists lost their lives on county roads from 2012 to 2016, an average of 15 motorcyclist deaths per year. The county is the scene of 227 motorcycle-involved crashes annually, on average. It is followed by Baltimore City, with an average of 220 motorcycle-involved crashes annually.

Bikers age 40 and above accounted for a third (36.8 percent) of the motorcycle death toll in the nation’s capital from 2012 to 2016. At least two motorcyclists, both 23-years-old, lost their lives in the nation’s capital during 2017, including the young driver of a Yamaha SR6 motorcycle, who was reportedly traveling at a high rate of speed when he lost control of the motorcycle and hit a fire hydrant on Arkansas Avenue, Northwest. This compares to three motorcycle fatalities in the District of Columbia in 2014 and 2015, and six motorcycle fatalities in the city during 2016. From 2008 to 2012, “21 motorcyclists died in the District of Columbia.” Although there are fewer than 4,500 motorcycle registrations in the District, 19 motorcyclists lost their lives on city streets from 2012 to 2016. The city is also seeing increases in crashes involving female motorcyclists. The District does not offer a motorcycle road skills test to residents seeking a DC Class M motorcycle license. They must take the test in Maryland and Virginia and provide proof to the District DMV.

Older bikers have been dubbed “Aging Easy Riders” or “re-entry riders.” It is a descriptive of a person who “rode in their 20s and decided to take it up again in their late 40s to 60s.” However, they face “additional challenges today: more traffic, more powerful bikes, more distracted drivers and diminished physical skills.” Insurance claims are also increasing due to motorcycle crashes. “Supersport motorcycles had the highest relative overall collision losses when compared with nine other motorcycle classes,” the Highway Loss Data Institute reports.  Nationwide, speeding is a factor in 35 percent of fatal crashes involving motorcyclists.

May kicks off Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month. The federal traffic deaths database shows motorcycle riders and passengers are “about 27 times as likely as passenger car occupants to die in a motor vehicle traffic crash, and six times as likely to be injured.”  As the National Safety Council explains: “although motorcycles make up 3% of all registered vehicles and only .7% of all vehicle miles traveled in the U.S., motorcyclists accounted for 14% of all traffic fatalities, 17% of all occupant fatalities and 4% of all occupant injuries in 2014, according to Injury Facts® 2017.” Motorcycle safety is everyone’s responsibility.

Research shows that older motorcyclists had “the greatest odds of hospitalization with a threefold rate of hospitalization compared with younger adults,” according to the Injury Prevention journal. “Middle age adults had a nearly twofold odds of hospitalization compared with younger adults. Analysis of injury severity showed a similar pattern with both older adults and middle age adults having significantly increased odds of severe injury compared with young adults.”

Booze is another deathly factor besetting and bedeviling area motorcyclists, AAA Mid Atlantic warns.  In 2016, motorcycle riders involved in fatal crashes were found to have the highest percentage of alcohol-impaired drivers than any other vehicle types, warns the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). During 2016, 45 percent of motorcycle riders killed in motorcycle crashes in the District had been drinking, with a .08 BAC and higher, compared to 28 percent in Virginia, and 21 percent in Maryland.

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