Motorcycle safety push revving up

New Hampshire has launched a statewide initiative to improve motorcycle safety after the state saw motorcycle fatalities skyrocket in 2004.

Motorcycle fatalities increased from nine in 2003 to 29 last year, including two pedestrians who were killed by motorcycles, according to the state Department of Motor Vehicles. One rider has already died in 2005.

Rider safety is the focus of Motorcycle Awareness Month, which will kick off Saturday at the State House. About 4,000 invitations have been sent for the event, created by a coalition of public agencies and private organizations. New Hampshire ranks first nationally in motorcycle ownership, with 6.8 motorcycles for every 100 residents in 2003, according to the Motorcycle Industry Council.

As part of the coalition's campaign, transportation boards will flash safety messages at the state border June 11 through 19 for the 82d Laconia Motorcycle Week, one of the nation's largest motorcycle rallies, with an estimated attendance of 400,000 last year. Also, the state will hand out 75,000 bumper stickers this summer and air two public service radio ads to urge awareness, both by motorcyclists and car drivers.

While helmet use will be promoted this summer as part of state-sponsored training courses, the ''Live Free or Die" state is reluctant to make helmets a central issue. The state dispensed with mandatory helmets for adults around 1977, about the same time the federal government stopped penalizing states without helmet laws, said Rae Tyson, public affairs director for the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration.

A recent NHTSA study estimated that helmets saved the lives of 1,158 motorcyclists in 2003, and 640 more could have been saved if wearing a helmet.

''A fairly large number of states have repealed helmet laws, and that certainly hasn't helped, especially with larger states like Pennsylvania, Texas, and Florida," Tyson said. ''There's no question that states that repeal helmet laws are paying a high price in terms of increased injuries and fatalities."

Just-released 2004 estimates from NHTSA show that riding a motorcycle grew more dangerous for the seventh straight year. The preliminary report estimates 3,927 motorcyclists died in 2004, a 7.3 percent increase over 2003 and more than an 85 percent increase since 1997. NHTSA is seeking funding for a causation study, because the last one was done in the 1970s.

In New Hampshire, annual statistics indicate that at least 50 percent of those who died riding motorcycles were not wearing helmets. During certain years in the past decade, the percentage climbed higher, approaching 60 to 80 percent.

Peter M. Thomson, coordinator of the New Hampshire Highway Safety Agency, pointed out that members of the new safety coalition have sharply divergent views about mandatory helmet laws but said they will have plenty to work on ''in areas where everyone can agree."

The new initiative will promote experienced rider training, especially for baby boomers who may have gotten licenses long ago and are now jumping back on bigger bikes. The optional beginner training, which the state has offered since 1990, has been so much in demand in recent years that private contractors have helped conduct classes. In all, more than 3,500 people took the motorcycle program last year, and about 50 percent of the students were women, said Mavis Robinson, coordinator of the New Hampshire Motorcycle Rider Training Program.

Of the 2004 motorcycle fatalities, Thomson said only one was a person who took the state's motorcycle training course, and that person was killed after hitting a deer.

''The real focus is that motorcycling is fun and can be safe, if in fact, you get training," Thomson said.

And riders continue to increase in New Hampshire. According to the latest DMV figures, motorcycle registrations rose from 49,000 in 2001 to 55,000 in 2003. In 2003, an estimated 58,647 drivers held state motorcycle licenses, more than double the population of Portsmouth. The Motorcycle Industry Council estimated the number of motorcycles in the state at 87,400 in 2003.

Motorcycle ownership is up nationally, with more than 1 million new sales annually, reaching levels not seen since the 1970s, according to the council. In part, growth is fueled by more women riders and baby boomers with extra cash and time, the council said.

Donavon Albertson, medical director with Portsmouth Regional Hospital's Department of Emergency Medicine, doesn't need statistics to prove the benefits of helmet use. He has seen too many motorcycle accidents in his 25 years of practicing medicine.

''If they're wearing a helmet, it's fairly common someone in the ER will note the helmet was cracked but the person's head wasn't," said Albertson. ''If they're not wearing a helmet, the head becomes one of those cart-wheeling appendages flying through the air."

Albertson dismissed the idea that freedom trumps safety.

''Riders think 'It's my choice if I don't want to wear a helmet,' " said Albertson. ''My response to them is that, yes, the probability of your dying isn't that great. There's a much greater probability you'll end up in a vegetative state or chronic rehabilitation with a brain injury where your care may stretch on for 10 or more years. "

Cassy Merritt of North Hampton wants to get her motorcycle license after years of riding on the back of bikes. Although her brother-in-law was killed in a motorcycle accident in Texas, she still enjoys riding.

Her co-worker at North Hampton Grocery, Melissa Kidd, has ridden for more than 25 years and wants Merritt to take the state rider training.

Merritt said she always wears a helmet. Kidd sometimes does.

''I wear a seat belt in a car, so you'd think I'd be smart enough to wear a helmet," said Kidd. ''But, I'm not."