Motorcycle Deaths Continue to Surge in NYC

     No one thinks riding motorcycles are a particularly safe way to get around the city, however, fatal accidents involving motorcyclists in New York City have been surging since 2019, and they are not letting up.

     While in 2019, the number of deaths that that involved motorcyclists who died on city streets was 25, that number doubled to 51 in 2020.

     As of Sept. 30, New York City has seen 43 New Yorkers die after motorcycle crashes.

     The number of fatalities includes not just the motorcyclists themselves, but the pedestrians and the other drivers into which they crash.

     In addition, the majority of motorcyclists who have died did not have driver’s licenses, nor were their bikes registered vehicles, Hank Gutman, the city’s transportation commissioner testified at a city council oversight hearing.

     Of those the New Yorkers who died on motorcycles this year, 75% of the victims were “not properly licensed, and approximately 70% were riding unregistered motorbikes or bikes with “unknown registration,” Gutman said.

     Most of the motorcycle crashes, which did not involve other motor vehicles, were the result of drivers speeding, losing control, and often hitting fixed object, Gutman pointed out.

     While Mayor Bill de Blasio and his administration have encouraged New Yorkers to give up their cars and consider not only public transportation, bicycles, and scooters, but also the e-bikes and e-scooters that were legalized at the beginning of 2020, Gutman acknowledged that an increased use of motorized motorbikes creates many dangers to pedestrians and drivers.

     “The proliferation of new forms of motorized vehicles is something that we applaud and commend as an alternative to the use of the private automobile, also raises safety issues and regulatory issues that we must address,” Gutman said.