With motorcycle accidents on the increase, Santa Rosa police on Tuesday will be cracking down on traffic violations that could led to motorcycle collisions.
Extra officers will patrol city streets frequently used by motorcyclists and where motorcycle crashes have occurred and will ticket motorcyclists and other drivers, Sgt. Rich Celli said in a statement.
He said motorcyclist deaths in California have more than doubled since 2000, from 276 then to 560 in 2008. Last year, 48 motorcycle accidents occurred in Santa Rosa with 43 injuries and one death.
Funding for the stepped up enforcement is from a grant from the state Office of Traffic Safety.
In his statement, Celli included some motorcycle safety facts:
–Motorcycle fatalities continued to spiral upward from 276 in 2000, to 518 in 2007, and to 560 in 2008.
–Motorcycle fatalities have increased 10 consecutive years and are at their highest level since 1990.
–Total motorcycle registrations in California increased 7 percent from 772,524 in 2007 to 824,244 in 2008.
–Riders without the proper motorcycle license may be subject to motorcycle impound for up to 30 days.
–In 2008, 37 percent of motorcycle operators killed were not properly licensed, up from 36 percent in 2007.
–Improper licensing is a greater problem among younger riders, where 63 percent of the 16- to 24-year-old operators killed in 2008 were not properly licensed.
–Of the 560 motorcyclists killed, at least 12 percent (68) were un-helmeted. Because helmets are about 39 percent effective in preventing fatalities, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates 26 of the 68 unhelmeted motorcyclists killed would have survived had they worn a helmet.
–In 2008, 70 percent of motorcycle operators killed were at fault and 58 percent of motorcycle operators injured were at fault.
–The percent of motorcycle operators killed with a blood alcohol level of .08 plus increased from 24 percent in 2007 to 26 percent in 2008.
–Super sport motorcycles, defined as consumer, street-legal versions of the motorcycles used by factory racing teams, account for 14 percent of the registered motorcycles in California, yet the 211 super sport drivers and passengers killed in 2008 accounted for 38 percent of the 560 motorcyclists killed in California.
joe
maybe they should the europan model for acquiring a liscense. A motorcycle it is graduated for riding safely. They start out with an under 150cc and move up. The us model is buy the fastest. When i started riding a 250 was a starter bike, now the 600 is a starter. The problem is you give an 18yr old the choice of a 250 nighthawk or a gsxr 750. The power of a 600cc sport bike is too much for a new rider.
November 29th, 2010 7:51 am
ted storck
Like to know how many of these deaths were stupid moves by the motorcyclist, and how many moves by stupid four wheel drivers.
Among the older crowd, riding street-only bikes, it is usually the car driver, but in the ‘crotch rocket’ drivers, often the biker.
November 29th, 2010 9:06 am
Steve
As a biker I have to constantly look out for the cagers who despite new laws still have a cell phone to their ear and expect that by activating the turn signal all they need to do is change lanes or the cager who drifts over into theother lane, the pull out in front of or turn left in front of…so many cager violations that should be worked. there are a few crotch rockets that are dangerous, but let’s work the cagers who are killing us.
November 29th, 2010 10:23 am
gary
ted hit the nail on the head,99% of the “crotch rocket” riders i see
on the roads,ride like total idiots on bikes that are way!!! to quick for
them.
November 29th, 2010 10:25 am
Brad
It’s somewhat strange that the SRPD would have their “crackdown” in the winter when most bikes are in a garage. I guess the city coffers must be getting low.
November 29th, 2010 10:58 am
Judson Spruce
Sounds like profiling to me.. yeah, let’s target SUV drivers on cell phones, now there’s a lethal weapon on the road! How many bikers have killed someone in the other vehicle??
All these factoids listed in the article are dated and don’t tell a complete picture. News articles about motorcycle accidents rarely tell you what kind of motorcycle was being driven.
The central theme behind these kind of articles is that motorcycles are evil and makes the riders evil too which is total bs. So is the SRPD going to ticket their own motorcycle officers? I see as many traffic violations by police as I do citizens.
November 29th, 2010 11:19 am
Ken
The heck with city bikers. I’d *love* to see CHP do a little “auditing” of crotch rocketeers on 101. Yeah, the ones who fly by splitting lanes at full freeway speeds and making unsafe lane changes at 75+ MPH. I’d also love to see a little noise auditing from the straight pipes. I rode a bike for years and the yahoos I see on the road today deserve what they get if they can’t follow the rules of the road.
November 29th, 2010 3:43 pm
jeff
just ride…
November 29th, 2010 8:01 pm
Brad
Sorry Ken, but the Harley bar hoppers are the absolute worst when it comes to lane splitting and loud pipes. The Hogs are just like their owners, loud and slow.
November 30th, 2010 10:05 am
Jack Bauer
Wrong Brad. I am a 30 year 101 corridor commuter and a Harley rider. While HD’s can be loud, I have found that most peope hear, then see, me about 2 car lengths before I arrive at there car while splitting lanes in slow moving traffic (which is legal). The crotch rockets cannot be heard in slower moving traffic until they are right up on you so we have to be very vigilant in checking our side mirrors for them. They DO continue to split cars at speed limit + speeds and it seems as though they treat the 101 as their personal track! I do not doubt that some of these guys are great riders, but the concept of Time and Place needs to be followed. Rush hour on the 101 is neither! JB
December 1st, 2010 11:19 am
mike
splitting lanes at freeway speeds is not illegal…some of us like to get by before the cagers have a chance to change lanes into us. Instead of hog and crotch rocket crowds fighting, how about we all just get along and try and support efforts like this, SRPD is trying to help us.
December 1st, 2010 1:21 pm
Judson Spruce
JB, loud pipes are illegal and they are the reason for all the new legislation being passed, including at the Federal level, against loud exhaust. Thanks to the Harley mentality on loud pipes, the entire motorcycle rider community will have to endure addition law enforcement scrutiny. Loud pipes save lives is just an inaccurate excuse for those who wish to say, “look at me, I’m a rough and tough biker!” I love my BMW R1150RT, like the ones the CHP uses.
December 1st, 2010 3:07 pm
Thomas A. Hilldale
All riders need to be responsible for everything that goes on around them. My general rule of thumb is never impede and never endanger. It is quite possible to have huge amounts of fun safely. The difficult part is restraining my wrist every time I see an opportunity to let my bike outperform a clumsy cage. Judgment is required to determine when to stay in line and when to get out of a questionable situation. We can’t always have unlimited open road ahead and sometimes a bike is just efficient transportation and not a means of endless heart-pounding joy.
December 26th, 2010 6:21 pm