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US biker deaths down: What's the secret?

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<b>LIFE-SAVING TECH AND GEAR:</b> Riding a bike equipped with ABS, as well wearing proper protective gear, could save your life on the road. <i>Image: Shutterstock / Mike Focus</i>
<b>LIFE-SAVING TECH AND GEAR:</b> Riding a bike equipped with ABS, as well wearing proper protective gear, could save your life on the road. <i>Image: Shutterstock / Mike Focus</i>
Mike Focus

WASHINGTON, United States - Motorcycle deaths are on track to decline for a second consecutive year in the US.

The reason? Increased use of anti-lock brakes, according to a preliminary analysis of US crash records from 2014.

Deaths likely decreased 1.8% to 4584 in 2014 compared to 4668 recorded in 2013, the Governors Highway Safety Association estimated based on data provided by all 50 states and the District of Columbia for the first nine months of 2014.

RIDER FATALITIES MUCH HIGHER

Author of the crash report, Dr Allan Williams, said: "The projected decline in motorcycle fatalities is encouraging, but deaths are still much higher than they were a decade ago."

While motorcycles account for 3% of vehicles on the road, they contribute 14% of fatalities, the report found.

Often the culprits in motorcycle deaths are speeding, drinking or failing to wear a helmet, Williams said.

Universal helmet laws, currently on the books in just 19 states and the District of Columbia, would go a "long way toward reducing fatalities", Williams said.

In states with these laws, nine in 10 bikers wore helmets last year, according to the report. Where laws are limited in scope or nonexistent, fewer than half of riders wore helmets.

ABS CAN SAVE LIVES

Anti-lock brakes also save lives by preventing wheels from seizing up, reducing the likelihood that a rider will be thrown from the bike. This feature is required in the European Union, but optional in the US.

Senior statistician at the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, Eric Teoh, said: "Over the past few years, ABS have become a lot more common in the US either as a standard feature or an optional upgrade on new motorcycles."

Previous research has found ABS can reduce fatal motorcycle crashes by about 30%, said Teoh, who wasn't involved in the current study.

A scientist at the Transportation Research Institute at the University of Michigan, Raymond Bingham, said: Despite the safety advantage, some bikers opt against ABS because they want to retain the ability to control the relative pressure on the front and back brakes themselves.

"It's an option a lot of people don't want because they want to be more in control of the bike."

THE LEATHER-CLAD RIDER

Leather jackets and other protective clothing can cushion the blow when riders are thrown from their bikes. Even though people often think leather is synonymous with bikers, many riders actually prefer not to wear proper clothing because it's too hot or bulky, Bingham said.

Bingham said: "Protective clothing that can withstand friction will allow you to slide down the freeway quite a way without taking any skin off, and a lot of it also has padding to protect against injury. It's not as common as you'd think."

Shifts in weather, the economy and gas prices can also impact motorcycle fatalities from year to year. It doesn't appear that any of these factors contributed to the number of deaths seen for 2014, Williams said.

Williams said: "It's too soon to tell if we have a trend."

Click here to view the full report

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