The Northwest Florida Daily News reports a Laurel Hill motorcyclist was killed late Friday around 9:40 p.m. when he was struck head-on by another vehicle while traveling on U.S. Highway 90 in the Holt community, The 51 year-old male was riding a 2014 Harley-Davidson motorcycle east on U.S. Highway 90, approaching a 2001 Saturn driven by 21-year-old male of Milton. The Saturn was headed west, veered into the oncoming lane and hit the Harley-Davidson before traveling another 500 feet down the road. The male and his motorcycle were thrown to the shoulder of the road, and he died at the scene of the accident. The driver of the Saturn was taken to North Okaloosa Medical Center with minor injuries. He was released at 3:40 a.m. Saturday and immediately charged with DUI Manslaughter and driving without a valid driver’s license, the news release said.
Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family of the deceased..
Did you know that Florida has experienced a sharp increase in motorcycle fatalities in the early 2000’s. Ride Smart Florida reports The number of motorcycle crashes and injuries nearly doubled between 2000 and 2008. A significant reduction was achieved in 2009 and 2010. However, motorcycle fatalities have been slowly increasing in the past three years (2011-2013).
In 2001, motorcycle fatalities accounted for about eight percent of all traffic fatalities in the State, but by 2008 that percentage had increased to 17.8 percent. By 2010, motorcycle fatalities dropped to 15.7 percent of all traffic fatalities. In 2013, motorcycle crashes represented 3.1 percent of traffic crashes while being responsible for 4.1 percent of traffic injuries and 19.2 percent of traffic fatalities.
Registrations and Endorsements
- As of Jan 2015, there were 593,321 registered motorcycles in Florida.
- As of Jan 2015, registered motorcycles accounted for 3.1% of Florida’s motoring public.
- As of July, 2013, there were 1,111,813 endorsed motorcyclists in Florida.
Helmet Use
- In 2013, helmet use in Florida was observed at50.7 percent.
|
Year |
DOT-Compliant |
Non-Compliant |
No Helmet |
# of Observations |
|
2010 |
52.40% |
1.30% |
46.30% |
5,196 |
|
2011 |
49.20% |
3.40% |
47.40% |
7,547 |
|
2012 |
47.00% |
3.10% |
49.90% |
10,363 |
|
2013 |
50.70% |
2.90% |
46.40% |
9,464 |
|
Avg. |
49.83% |
2.68% |
47.49% |
8,143 |
- Since the repeal of the helmet law in 2000, the number of fatal crashes for every 10,000 registered motorcycles increased by 21 percent, suggesting motorcyclists without helmets are more likely to suffer serious and fatal injuries
Source: http://www.ridesmartflorida.com/dataandstatistics.shtm
