France: Shocking Motorcycle Mortality 2009 |
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File under France Statistics
Author: Mike Werner
Location: Normandy, France
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The Ministry of Interior have made some strong noises about the death rate of French motorcycle riders during last year. Although the number of deadly accidents on the French roads have decreased, motorcycle deaths have increased.
During 2009, there were, according to the government, an increase of 101 biker deaths during the year, giving a total of 888 dead bikers. It's a scary figure, since this represents more than 2 deadly accidents per day. The increase is 11.1% over 2008.
Obviously, the number is bad and alarming, but it's not as bad as the government makes it out to be. During the last 4 years, the number of motorcycle riders have increased dramatically, from 0.8% of the French vehicle park to 1.2% of all vehicles, an increase of some 40%. In other words, on a per biker basis, the deadly accidents have decreased.
It's still bad nevertheless, but not catastrophic. But for the Minister of Interior, it's a good reason to go after motorcycle riders. He has ordered the police forces to target bikers everywhere. The statistics that show that bikers are not at fault when there's an accident is not taken into account.
And that's bad news...
Via: Moto-Journal
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