Iowa's motorcycle fatality rate is 10 times the national average

[cigaretteman]

With the warm weather spring brings, motorcycle season will be in full swing. The Governor's Traffic Safety Bureau is reminding riders this month that it is much safer to ride with a helmet than with your hair blowing in the wind.

Iowa experiences higher rates of fatalities for motorcyclists yet they make up a small portion of vehicle operators on the road, according to the GTSB.

May is Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month and the GTSB shared data on the high rates of motorcycle fatalities in the state of Iowa.

"Whether you are on two wheels, four wheels, or more, it’s everyone’s responsibility to practice safe habits and Share the Road," GTSB stated in a news release.

Iowa's motorcycle fatality rate is 10 times higher than the national average. Over the last five years, 74% of people who died on a motorcycle were not wearing a helmet. Meanwhile, the national average is 38%.

In 2023, 63 people were killed in motorcycle crashes in Iowa and 11 have been killed so far in 2024 alone, according to the Iowa Department of Transportation.

Iowa's motorcycle fatality rate is 10 times the national average. What to know about safety.

Iowa experiences higher rates of fatalities for motorcyclists yet they make up a small portion of vehicle operators in the state.

www.press-citizen.com

 

[EagleHawk]

"Crashes with other vehicles also occur because either one or both operators make errors in judgment. Many collisions and injuries could have been avoided if the motorcycle rider had known when and how to swerve or brake."

Of maybe if the other vehicle paid attention and didn't pull out in front of a motorcycle. I'm not a motorcycle guy, but this seems to be blaming the motorcycle for not responding 'properly' to another driver's mistake.

 

[MitchLL]

Why Mississippi North doesn't have a helmet law, I'll never understand.

 

[HawkBall23]

Maybe it has something to do with how some motorcycle owners operate their vehicles.

Maybe I was asleep at the wheel and dreaming it all as I was driving home from work yesterday afternoon, but I swear I saw a guy driving his motorcycle while leaning back with his arms behind him on the body of the motorcycle instead of on the handlebars. And all with absolutely no protective gear on.

Sure, he was probably only doing 35 MPH at the very most, but still, I just about gave myself whiplash from the double-take and was kinda gobsmacked at witnessing that.

 

[SSG T]

"Crashes with other vehicles also occur because either one or both operators make errors in judgment. Many collisions and injuries could have been avoided if the motorcycle rider had known when and how to swerve or brake."

Of maybe if the other vehicle paid attention and didn't pull out in front of a motorcycle. I'm not a motorcycle guy, but this seems to be blaming the motorcycle for not responding 'properly' to another driver's mistake.

As a rider myself, I see a lot of riders who don't pay attention to their surroundings. Yes, a crash may technically be the fault of the other driver, but the bike's involvement could have been avoided with some situational awareness.

And helmets. I have no clue how anyone would get on a bike without at least a helmet. I wear a helmet, protective jacket (next one will have the air bags), gloves and boots.

 

[Jerome Silberman]

OR docs refer to riders as organ donors.

 

[Aardvark86]

With the warm weather spring brings, motorcycle season will be in full swing. The Governor's Traffic Safety Bureau is reminding riders this month that it is much safer to ride with a helmet than with your hair blowing in the wind.

Iowa experiences higher rates of fatalities for motorcyclists yet they make up a small portion of vehicle operators on the road, according to the GTSB.

May is Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month and the GTSB shared data on the high rates of motorcycle fatalities in the state of Iowa.

"Whether you are on two wheels, four wheels, or more, it’s everyone’s responsibility to practice safe habits and Share the Road," GTSB stated in a news release.

Iowa's motorcycle fatality rate is 10 times higher than the national average. Over the last five years, 74% of people who died on a motorcycle were not wearing a helmet. Meanwhile, the national average is 38%.

In 2023, 63 people were killed in motorcycle crashes in Iowa and 11 have been killed so far in 2024 alone, according to the Iowa Department of Transportation.

Iowa's motorcycle fatality rate is 10 times the national average. What to know about safety.

Iowa experiences higher rates of fatalities for motorcyclists yet they make up a small portion of vehicle operators in the state.

www.press-citizen.com

how do you compare with pa (another helmetless state)?

I have to say, whether it's motorized or unmotorized, bike, motorcycle, or scooter, one should always protect the coconut.

 

[Aardvark86]

OR docs refer to riders as organ donors.

yeah, my wife when she was working in the er once told me that someone made a chart note using the word "donorcycle"

 

[SSG T]

Maybe it has something to do with how some motorcycle owners operate their vehicles.

Maybe I was asleep at the wheel and dreaming it all as I was driving home from work yesterday afternoon, but I swear I saw a guy driving his motorcycle while leaning back with his arms behind him on the body of the motorcycle instead of on the handlebars. And all with absolutely no protective gear on.

Sure, he was probably only doing 35 MPH at the very most, but still, I just about gave myself whiplash from the double-take and was kinda gobsmacked at witnessing that.

I watched a guy ride between the Elkhart exit and Huxley exit on I-35 in the blind spot of a car. When the car went to change lanes to pass someone, he nearly clipped the bike. Dude on the bike was screaming (I could see him, not hear him) waving his arms, flipping the car off etc.

My first thought was "Dude, he couldn't see you because you were exactly where you shouldn't have been...for 6 miles".

 

[Huey Grey]

Why Mississippi North doesn't have a helmet law, I'll never understand.

We don't have the cops to enforce it anyway. They're all at the border.

 

[GlenHawk]

Why Mississippi North doesn't have a helmet law, I'll never understand.

Crazy. I had no idea that Iowa is one of only three states without motorcycle helmet laws.

Iowa, Illinois, and New Hampshire

I also feel like deer have to be a part of the problem. I was back in Iowa for a wedding a few weeks ago and took Highway 92 from Knoxville to CB and was blown away at how many motorcycles we passed after 9pm.

 

[NorthernHawkeye]

Auto insurers shouldn't provide coverage for a person not wearing a helmet. Additionally, we should codify into law that a helmetless operator pay medical and first responder costs associated with their care.

 

[MitchLL]

Maybe someone can fill me in...there was a helmet law years ago.

Why was that law repealed?

 

[cigaretteman]

Maybe someone can fill me in...there was a helmet law years ago.

Why was that law repealed?

Freedom Baby!

As the popularity of motorcycling grows, the number of those killed also have grown, and the overwhelming number involve people without helmets. But, few think the grim news will sway lawmakers who face a similar question whenever a helmet bill is proposed: Why is Iowa one of only three states without a helmet law?


A growing library of research from public health, medical, academic and even financial perspectives suggest helmets save lives and save taxpayers money, helmet-law advocates say. But Iowa seems more resolved not to pass a helmet law.




The most influential voice in all of this, both sides of the argument seem to agree, is a grass roots advocacy group called A Brotherhood Aimed Toward Education. ABATE of Iowa has steered the conversation from one of health statistics and societal costs to something much more fundamental — education and liberty.


'A helmet law doesn't stop crashes,' said Mark Maxwell, who serves as ABATE's primary lobbyist and also runs a collision center in Des Moines. 'If the focus is not on stopping crashes, we are having the wrong conversation.'


For decades now, ABATE has refined a powerful recipe — vocal members, narrow focus, clear messages and a spray-the-field approach to political contributions. By many indications, the group has found a winning combination.


'They are politically very effective,' said Geoffrey Lauer, executive director of the Brain Injury Alliance in Cedar Rapids, which annually argues in favor of a helmet law. 'The ABATE chapters are well organized, and they communicate well with their constituents.'





ADVERTISING


In all, 19 states have universal helmet laws. and 28 have age-based laws, according to the Governors' Bureau. New Hampshire never has had a helmet law, and Illinois repealed its law in 1970.


Iowa did adopt a helmet law, in September 1975, but repealed it less than a year later.


By 1976, under pressure from the states, Congress stopped the Department of Transportation from assessing financial penalties on states without helmet laws, according to the Insurance Institute.


The ABATE political action committee formed in 1986, according to state records, and has been preserving that repeal ever since.

Iowa motorcycle helmet law: Fighting for the right to choose, and winning

Iowa is off to its deadliest start to the year for motorcyclists since 2012, with 21 fatalities. Only two of …

www.thegazette.com

 

[Joes Place]

Harley rider used to do RAGBRAI w/ our group (support guy).

He was out riding w/ a buddy one night, and they were racing, no helmets. He got out far ahead, and then stopped on the road to wait for the other guy. Other guy came up on him and didn't brake fast enough, just hit him hard enough to make him lose his balance and tip his bike over and fall on the pavement. Hit his head on the pavement and suffered a massive brain injury, and became an organ donor. Wasn't a violent crash, at all. That's all it takes to end up dead.

All the folks who knew him wished he'd worn a helmet, because he'd have easily survived...

 

[Aardvark86]

Harley rider used to do RAGBRAI w/ our group (support guy).

He was out riding w/ a buddy one night, and they were racing, no helmets. He got out far ahead, and then stopped on the road to wait for the other guy. Other guy came up on him and didn't brake fast enough, just hit him hard enough to make him lose his balance and tip his bike over and fall on the pavement. Hit his head on the pavement and suffered a massive brain injury, and became an organ donor. Wasn't a violent crash, at all. That's all it takes to end up dead.

All the folks who knew him wished he'd worn a helmet, because he'd have easily survived...

This. It's shocking how little the speed actually matters. It's all about the imact point.

One of the nastier ones we had was in our cycling club, where a guy planted his front wheel in a sewer grate and the bike just fulcrumed right over with all of the centrifugal force on to his forehead. He survived, but man, every time you see him, 20 years later, he still brings up how he was once president of our local bike racing region in 1992.

 

[SSG T]

Maybe someone can fill me in...there was a helmet law years ago.

Why was that law repealed?

I don't know that Iowa has ever had a helmet law. I know in the early 80s Iowa was the only, or 1 of 2, state that didn't have one.

 

[mthawkeyes]

I watched a guy ride between the Elkhart exit and Huxley exit on I-35 in the blind spot of a car. When the car went to change lanes to pass someone, he nearly clipped the bike. Dude on the bike was screaming (I could see him, not hear him) waving his arms, flipping the car off etc.

My first thought was "Dude, he couldn't see you because you were exactly where you shouldn't have been...for 6 miles".

This is something that I point out with my teenage drivers. Never hang out in someone's blind spot. Yes, the accident would be their fault, but dead is dead no matter whose fault it is.

 

[Jerome Silberman]

yeah, my wife when she was working in the er once told me that someone made a chart note using the word "donorcycle"

I know a nurse that did some practicum time in a head injury facility during nursing school. She said about half were motorcycle incidents with almost all of the patients under 40 being part of that group.

She was told by a doctor that they view the helmet as a practical device to hopefully keep the body healthy enough to donate the rest of the organs, not as a quality of life saving device.

 

[onlyTheObvious]

Seems like a death wish to me. Especially at night with animals.

Very thankful nobody in my family rides.

I am very surprised only three states don’t have helmet law. I thought it was more 50/50. Seems like Congress could do the seat belt law trick with helmets. Basically with old highway funds.

 

[RonaldMexico]

Why Mississippi North doesn't have a helmet law, I'll never understand.

It’s cheaper for society over time.

 

[TJ8869]

I’m curious to know what methodology they used to arrive at the claim that Iowa’s motorcycle fatality rate is 10X higher than the national average. Because that’s almost certainly nowhere close to being true.

Over the five-year period from the start of 2018 to the end of 2022 there were 28,063 motorcycle fatalities in the United States. 271 of those were in Iowa.

0.966% of all motorcycle fatalities occurred in a state that represents 0.958% of the population.

I get that Iowa’s riding season is shorter than southern states, but that doesn’t skew the data by a factor of 10.

 

[desihawk]

not long ago i was totally looking forward to riding again after a long time and decided to buy. that same week a colleague's kid perished in a motorcycle accident. in a flash my excitement was wiped out.
csb

 

[HIWILLE]

With the warm weather spring brings, motorcycle season will be in full swing. The Governor's Traffic Safety Bureau is reminding riders this month that it is much safer to ride with a helmet than with your hair blowing in the wind.

Iowa experiences higher rates of fatalities for motorcyclists yet they make up a small portion of vehicle operators on the road, according to the GTSB.

May is Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month and the GTSB shared data on the high rates of motorcycle fatalities in the state of Iowa.

"Whether you are on two wheels, four wheels, or more, it’s everyone’s responsibility to practice safe habits and Share the Road," GTSB stated in a news release.

Iowa's motorcycle fatality rate is 10 times higher than the national average. Over the last five years, 74% of people who died on a motorcycle were not wearing a helmet. Meanwhile, the national average is 38%.

In 2023, 63 people were killed in motorcycle crashes in Iowa and 11 have been killed so far in 2024 alone, according to the Iowa Department of Transportation.

Iowa's motorcycle fatality rate is 10 times the national average. What to know about safety.

Iowa experiences higher rates of fatalities for motorcyclists yet they make up a small portion of vehicle operators in the state.

www.press-citizen.com

I’ve had many friends die from motorcycle crashes and many brutally hurt over the years. I owned 3 Harley’s durning those times, the last bike was few years back and NEVER again.

 

[MitchLL]

I don't know that Iowa has ever had a helmet law. I know in the early 80s Iowa was the only, or 1 of 2, state that didn't have one.

Not that "google" is always correct, but it says the law was put into effect in September, 1975...and then repealed less than one year later.

 

[cigaretteman]

I don't know that Iowa has ever had a helmet law. I know in the early 80s Iowa was the only, or 1 of 2, state that didn't have one.

See my post #14 above.

 

[Doodads and Hoohah]

A few years ago a friend of mine flew in from California for a visit. He rides a motorcycle in California daily. On the way home from the airport he saw someone riding on the interstate with no helmet. He said "what the hell is he doing?" I was like what? "That guy isn't wearing a helmet!!!" Anyway, he was shocked that someone would ride a motorcycle without a helmet

 

[noStemsnoSTICKS]

Why Mississippi North doesn't have a helmet law, I'll never understand.

This. I grew up in Iowa. Also grew up riding and wearing a helmet because if I didn't, my dad would take away my privilege to ride by grounding me. Where I live now has a helmet law. Freaks me out seeing riders not wearing helmets when I'm in Iowa. It's the weirdest, most asinine thing.

 

[Hendy hawk]

I watched a guy ride between the Elkhart exit and Huxley exit on I-35 in the blind spot of a car. When the car went to change lanes to pass someone, he nearly clipped the bike. Dude on the bike was screaming (I could see him, not hear him) waving his arms, flipping the car off etc.

My first thought was "Dude, he couldn't see you because you were exactly where you shouldn't have been...for 6 miles".

Must have been riding one of those quiet bikes.

 

[Hawki97]

I don’t care if motorcyclists wear a helmet or not.

All I ask is that they please be organ donors and make sure their ID is updated showing they are.

 

[JWolf74]

I think a lot of it is how these riders ride. In the last 2 weeks I've seen someone ride a wheelie (damn near perpendicular with the ground) down Ingersoll for a couple blocks, watched another swerve in and out of 4 lanes along 235 during rush hour, watched yet another lane split in a construction zone.

All on crotch rockets. Harley riders may be loud and annoying, but I've never seen them do the above.

 

[McLovin32]

I love my dad more than anything, but he's one of the idiots that refuses to wear a ****ing helmet when he's out riding. I mentally prepare myself every year when the weather gets nice that I could get that phone call at any time.

 

[Tenacious E]

"Crashes with other vehicles also occur because either one or both operators make errors in judgment. Many collisions and injuries could have been avoided if the motorcycle rider had known when and how to swerve or brake."

Of maybe if the other vehicle paid attention and didn't pull out in front of a motorcycle. I'm not a motorcycle guy, but this seems to be blaming the motorcycle for not responding 'properly' to another driver's mistake.

On the other hand, anecdotally, I see way more dipshits on motorcycles than people making good choices.

 

[SSG T]

Must have been riding one of those quiet bikes.

Harley Electra Glide. No helmet, shorts, no shirt

 

[SSG T]

I think a lot of it is how these riders ride. In the last 2 weeks I've seen someone ride a wheelie (damn near perpendicular with the ground) down Ingersoll for a couple blocks, watched another swerve in and out of 4 lanes along 235 during rush hour, watched yet another lane split in a construction zone.

All on crotch rockets. Harley riders may be loud and annoying, but I've never seen them do the above.

I've seen safe riders on every kind of bike, and I've seen dips***s on every kind of bike. Outside of young=stupid, there's not really a breakdown of stupidity and type of bike that I've noticed.

I will say, people riding standards (Triumph Street, KTM Dukes, Kawi Zs, and the like) and "adventure" bikes (BMW GS, Honda Africe Twins and the like) seem to have the highest ratio of protective equipment worn.

 

[Hock-I]

With the warm weather spring brings, motorcycle season will be in full swing. The Governor's Traffic Safety Bureau is reminding riders this month that it is much safer to ride with a helmet than with your hair blowing in the wind.

Iowa experiences higher rates of fatalities for motorcyclists yet they make up a small portion of vehicle operators on the road, according to the GTSB.

May is Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month and the GTSB shared data on the high rates of motorcycle fatalities in the state of Iowa.

"Whether you are on two wheels, four wheels, or more, it’s everyone’s responsibility to practice safe habits and Share the Road," GTSB stated in a news release.

Iowa's motorcycle fatality rate is 10 times higher than the national average. Over the last five years, 74% of people who died on a motorcycle were not wearing a helmet. Meanwhile, the national average is 38%.

In 2023, 63 people were killed in motorcycle crashes in Iowa and 11 have been killed so far in 2024 alone, according to the Iowa Department of Transportation.

Iowa's motorcycle fatality rate is 10 times the national average. What to know about safety.

Iowa experiences higher rates of fatalities for motorcyclists yet they make up a small portion of vehicle operators in the state.

www.press-citizen.com

The obvious answer is to ban motorcycles.

 

[WhiteSoxClone]

"Crashes with other vehicles also occur because either one or both operators make errors in judgment. Many collisions and injuries could have been avoided if the motorcycle rider had known when and how to swerve or brake."

Of maybe if the other vehicle paid attention and didn't pull out in front of a motorcycle. I'm not a motorcycle guy, but this seems to be blaming the motorcycle for not responding 'properly' to another driver's mistake.

I interpret that as them just pointing out that by learning and executing proper defensive riding techniques, a rider can decrease his or her chances of becoming a fatality.

As i have told my 15-yr old daughter a hundred times when I talk about defensive driving - "Knowing that it was the other driver's fault isn't going to be any consolation to your mother and I if we have to hold a funeral for you."

 

[ThorneStockton]

I’m curious to know what methodology they used to arrive at the claim that Iowa’s motorcycle fatality rate is 10X higher than the national average. Because that’s almost certainly nowhere close to being true.

Over the five-year period from the start of 2018 to the end of 2022 there were 28,063 motorcycle fatalities in the United States. 271 of those were in Iowa.

0.966% of all motorcycle fatalities occurred in a state that represents 0.958% of the population.

I get that Iowa’s riding season is shorter than southern states, but that doesn’t skew the data by a factor of 10.

It appears to be fatalities per million miles travelled. And if the national average rate is particularly low, 10x that number may not be so significantly different, it just sounds significant. So maybe it is almost close to being true?

I'm not sure how the miles travelled are estimated, and I have stopped looking.

 

[Jerome Silberman]

I’m curious to know what methodology they used to arrive at the claim that Iowa’s motorcycle fatality rate is 10X higher than the national average. Because that’s almost certainly nowhere close to being true.

Over the five-year period from the start of 2018 to the end of 2022 there were 28,063 motorcycle fatalities in the United States. 271 of those were in Iowa.

0.966% of all motorcycle fatalities occurred in a state that represents 0.958% of the population.

I get that Iowa’s riding season is shorter than southern states, but that doesn’t skew the data by a factor of 10.

You're missing the data on total motorcycle accidents.

 

[fredjr82]

Why Mississippi North doesn't have a helmet law, I'll never understand.

Me either, especially when a seat belt is law