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Two-wheel trouble

The motorcycle industry and government have stepped up efforts to increase motorcycle safety, but sales are soaring, as are fatalities.

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published August 25, 2006

MILWAUKEE - As Sean Mizlo lay in a hospital bed last summer, he wondered if he'd ever ride a motorcycle again. He knew he could, even though doctors had just removed his left leg above the knee. But would he want to?

"When I first said I was going to ride again, everyone said, 'Are you nuts?' " said Mizlo, 36, of Orion, Ill. "But it's just something you've got to do."

The motorcycle industry has reported record sales 14 years in a row, but the industry and the government are looking to curb a rising number of injuries and deaths. They're encouraging motorcyclists to ride sober, wear protective gear such as helmets, take training courses and get licensed.

Riders attending this month's Sturgis Motorcycle Rally were being reminded to "Take It Easy" in ads and banners sponsored by the Motorcycle Safety Foundation, an industry group.

But industry experts and the government say other factors complicate things. Riders are getting older, riding more miles on rural roads and drinking more. And the rising number of riders is also making it harder to get into training programs, they say.

Motorcycle sales were up 11 percent in the first six months of this year and interest continues because of high gas prices, the Motorcycle Industry Council said. In 2004, the most recent year data are available, the industry posted $7.6-billion in sales of 725,000 on-highway bikes, up from nearly $4.7-billion in 2000 on 471,000 bikes sold.

"A big part of what you need to look at it is the simple fact that there are lot more motorcycles on the road," said Bob Klein, spokesman for Milwaukee-based Harley-Davidson. It sold 154,041 motorcycles in the first half of the year, up about 7 percent from the previous year.

Motorcycles accounted for 2 percent of all registered vehicles in 2004 but made up 9.4 percent of all highway deaths, up from 5 percent in 1997, according to government statistics.

In 2004, 4,008 people died on motorcycles, up 8 percent from the previous year's 3,714 deaths, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. At the same time, total traffic deaths dropped less than 1 percent to 42,636.

Preliminary numbers from last year show a 7.7 percent increase in motorcycle fatalities, the NHTSA reports.

"Every fatality is huge to us because in almost all cases they're completely preventable," said Tim Buche, president of the Motorcycle Safety Foundation.

More than half of the time, other vehicles are involved in crashes and the majority of those are the other vehicle's fault, Buche said. He cited the recent accident of Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who collided with a car in June, breaking his jaw and nose. He was cited for riding without a license and not wearing a helmet.

Mizlo spent years pining for a Harley-Davidson and finally bought one in June 2004. Less than a month later, he was hit by an underage, drunken driver going through an intersection. He wasn't wearing a helmet and had never taken a training course, though he said he grew up on dirt bikes and smaller motorcycles, and knew how to ride.

Within a year, he was back on his bike, which had been repaired and outfitted with a third wheel for extra stability. He marked the one-year anniversary of the crash last month by riding with friends.

[Last modified August 24, 2006, 22:58:17]