Following the national trend, Texas records a18% drop in motorcycle fatalities
This is more good news on top of what we just heard a couple of weeks back about the highway fatality figures. In 2009, Texas saw a 12.1 percent decrease in the rate of traffic deaths, compared to a 9.7 percent drop nationwide, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The number of traffic deaths last year in the U.S. is the lowest since 1950, when there were one-fifth as many cars on the road. But motorcycle fatalities continue to remain high and pose a huge challenge in many states.
AUSTIN – The number of fatal motorcycle accidents in Texas took a sharp turn downward in 2009, after nearly a decade of increases.
Last year, the rate of motorcycle deaths decreased by 18 percent in Texas, to 426, the state Department of Transportation said. It was a surprising reversal: From 2000 to 2008, such deaths increased 31 percent, even though motorcycle registrations were up just 13 percent, said Bernie Fette, research specialist at the Texas Transportation Institute at Texas A&M University.
