Motorcycle accidents spike in The City
By: Will Reisman
Examiner Staff Writer
May 7, 2009
SAN FRANCISCO — An increase in motorcycle use by inexperienced riders is being blamed for the bump in accidents involving the two-wheeled vehicles on city streets.
There has also been a statewide increase in motorcycle accidents during the past several years.
Don Lemelin, owner of Scuderia West, a motorcycle dealership on Duboce Avenue, attributed a large part of the spike in accidents to the growing popularity of motorcycles and scooters during the past five years.
“We’ve seen an explosion in interest in The City recently,” Lemelin said. “An increase in motorcycles out on the road with new and inexperienced riders seems to go hand in hand with an increase in incidents.”
State and city statistics back up his claims. Motorcycle registration in The City climbed from 17,611 to 19,417 from 2004 to 2007, according to Department of Motor Vehicles statistics.
Of those riders, there were nearly 400 collisions recorded in San Francisco in 2007 — an 18 percent increase from the prior year — according to the California Highway Patrol, which released findings this week to alert the public that May is Motorcycle Awareness Month.
Along with more collisions, San Francisco recorded 10 motorcycle-related fatalities in 2007 — the most recent year data was compiled — which is a total that’s just two less than the previous two years combined, according to the CHP.
A total of 13,656 motorcycle accidents were recorded in California in 2007, an increase of 1,100 from 2006, according to CHP data. San Francisco had the ninth most in the state, even though the county ranks 12th in population.
Robert Gladden, director of programming for the Motorcycle Safety Foundation, a state advocacy group, said many riders are not taking the necessary precautions.
“We still see the same things over and over again,” he said. “People are drinking while riding, riding beyond their capabilities or not wearing the proper safety gear. So many of these accidents are preventable.”
Motorcyclists can find out more about proper safety measures by visiting the California Motorcyclist Safety Program’s Web site at
www.ca-msp.org.
Road hazards
Accidents in The City involving motorcycles:
Collisions in San Francisco
2007: 393
2006: 332
2005: 356
2004: 300
Motorcycle-involved deaths in San Francisco
2007: 10
2006: 6
2005: 6
2004: 5
Source: California Highway Patrol
wreisman@sfexaminer.com
