Motorcycle Crashes in Pennsylvania Increase

Motorcycle accidents are on the upswing, according to the 2019 Pennsylvania Crash Facts & Statistics, a publication of the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation. While PA crashes in general were at a record low in 2019, motorcycle crashes and fatalities each increased 10 percent from the previous year.

Pennsylvania’s roads and highways cover more than 120,000 miles. Accounting for all types of vehicles, there were 125,267 reportable traffic crashes in 2019, resulting in 76,243 injuries and 1,059 deaths.

“To add some perspective, the 2019 total of reportable traffic crashes is the eighth lowest total since 1950 when 113,748 crashes were reported,” noted the report. “The 2019 fatality rate of 1.04 fatalities per hundred million vehicle-miles of travel was the lowest ever recorded in Pennsylvania since the department started keeping records of this in 1935.”

However, in the motorcycle segment, there were 174 motorcycle fatalities in 2019, up from 164 the previous year. There were 2,860 motorcycle accidents, up from 2,611 the previous year. Motorcycles accounted for 17.7 percent of all fatal vehicle crashes and, of the total motorcycle collisions, 393 involved a motorcycle striking a passenger car.

If you suffered injuries or losses in an accident involving a motorcycle and you believe the other party was negligent – or the motorcycle was defective – you may wish to speak with a well-known motorcycle accident attorney in Pennsylvania. Please reach out to us, as our firm is recognized as a leader in litigating these cases.