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Motorcycle Crash Causation Study Petition

We've been following progress on the new Motorcycle Crash Causation study authorized by the SAFETEA-LU bill and recently announced by the DOT.

Our study resource page has detailed information on the study. We have added our recommendations for fixing the problem.

Once every generation, we get a chance for a new Crash Causation Study. The last one, by Harry Hurt, was published in 1981. It made recommendations that led to the always-on headlight switch and improvements in rider training. These were major factors in the one-third reduction in motorcycle fatalities between the mid-1980s and mid-1990s.

Bikers need this new study because 5290 bikers die yearly in crashes, we don't fully understand why, and we need good crash causation information to ride safely and inform public policy. We believe that the Hurt finding that the majority of motorcycle crashes are caused by cage drivers is no longer the case, and that bikers now need to step forward and take responsibility for our own rides, training and outcomes. The new study has the potential to set the record straight, find the current causes of crashes, and identify successful riding strategies that might work for us all. We don't know what these might be, but we have some analysis on our resources page.

Currently, the study is proposing to research far fewer than the 900 crashes which experts agree is the minimum needed to get good information. We believe that the stakeholders need to figure out a way to use our tax dollars wisely and ensure the study samples 900 to 1200 crashes, as originally required.

Please sign our petition. We will follow up with an event where we'll ride to Washington and present the petition. This is a non-group affiliated campaign and all rider groups and individuals are invited to participate.

Petition Features

fill in our on-line email form below. We'll print off your electronically-signed petition and add it to the stack. We will never circulate your petition electronically.

If you don't want to use email, download our PDF petition here and mail it to the address on the form. Print some off and bring it to your next ride or chapter meeting for your riding buddies to fill in

On-Line Petition Form

Your Name

Your Email

Your Address Required, but you can omit zipcode and provide county instead.

Motorcycle group membership (Optional)

Subject Petition on the Motorcycle Crash Causation Study. The Motorcycle Crash Causation Study proposed in SAFETEA-LU section 5511 was announced by DOT on October 5th 2009. This study is needed to provide up-to-data information on crash causation. This will help save some of the 5290 bikers killed on our roads every year by informing public policy and individual riders' road strategies. Experts agree that at least 900 crashes need to be studied to provide good information from the study. This petition is addressed to the current stakeholders in the process: The House Transportation Committee, $2M in the highway reauthorization bill The US Department of Transport, via the NHTSA which granted $500K, and FHWA which is coordinating Six State DOTs which pooled $560K from state highway research funds The AMA, which granted $100K, and raised an additional 27K via an appeal, and did other work MSF, who pledged 2.8M from members and another 300K from others, currently withheld Oklahoma State University Transportation Center, which is conducting the research Motorcyclists need this study. I commend the work done by the stakeholders to get the study to this point. I ask the stakeholders to work together to make the study happen with at least 900 to 1200 crashes sampled. Whatever it takes.

Bikesafer's usual privacy policy does not apply to this petition form. We'll send or bring it to one or more of the agencies on the list. We will not disseminate it electronically, it will be used in hard copy form only.