A young man tooling down a country road atop a motorcycle with the breeze running through his hair certainly is an all-American image. However, state transportation officials say the pastime isn’t the safest.
While roadway fatalities across Missouri decreased by 6 percent in 2023, the first year since 2019 when the number dipped, the number of motorcycle fatalities are on the rise, according to the Missouri Department of Transportation.
In 2023, according to preliminary data MoDOT has released, 989 people died on state roads, about 6 percent fewer deaths than in 2022, when 1,057 died.
While MoDOT officials concede the decrease represents progress, they note that at least three people are still dying each day in traffic accidents.
And, officials note, there’s a troubling trend when it comes to motorcycle fatalities.
Across the state in 2023, 175 people died in motorcycle accidents, a 16 percent uptick over 2022’s tally of 153.
MoDOT director Patrick McKenna, in a written statement, attributed that jump to a change in state law in August 2020 that allows motorcyclists older than 26 with health insurance to ride without a helmet.
“To see not only an increase in motorcycle fatalities from the previous year, but to have it be the highest number ever reported proves that when it comes to motorcycle safety, public policy matters and we’ve taken a step backward,” McKenna said. “The importance of choosing to wear a helmet when riding can’t be overstated. Without it, the likelihood of a crash causing a fatal injury jumps up significantly.”
Since the relaxed helmet law took effect, in Jefferson County, there were 19 motorcycle fatalities through the end of 2023, according to MoDOT statistics.
There were two reported fatalities in the county in the last third of 2020 (seven overall), four in 2021, six in 2022 and nine in 2023, said Jon Nelson, assistant to the State Highway Safety and Traffic Engineer in MoDOT’s Highway Safety and Traffic Division.
Of the 175 statewide motorcycle fatalities in 2023, Nelson said, “about half (the riders) weren’t wearing a helmet.”
The Missouri State Highway Patrol reports whether motorcyclists involved in accidents are wearing a safety helmet that meets federal Department of Transportation specifications. If the helmet isn’t on the approved list, the rider is considered as not wearing a helmet.
Nelson cautioned that motorcyclists should not figure their odds of surviving a crash are about as good helmeted as bare-headed.
“A lot of those who are wearing a helmet aren’t involved in fatalities,” Nelson said. “It’s kind of the same thing with seat belts – you can be in a fatal accident wearing a seat belt, but our numbers show that 87 percent of Missourians wear their seat belts and the very vast majority are getting to and from where they want to be safely.”
As in the statewide data, fatal traffic crashes in Jefferson County were down in 2023 compared with 2022, from 43 in 2022 to 24 in 2023.
Nelson said that makes the nine motorcycle fatalities here last year stand out even more.
“Statewide, 17 percent to 18 percent of all fatal crashes involve motorcycles. Here, we’re seeing more than a third in Jefferson County last year.”
The list of fatalities
Last year’s fatal crashes in the county include:
■ Curtis Bilbrey, 64, of De Soto was killed in an April 2 accident after his motorcycle went off the side of Hwy. V south of De Soto. Bilbrey, the patrol reported, was not wearing an approved helmet.
■ Mark Guillermo, 46, of St. Louis died May 27 after losing control of his motorcycle after passing a vehicle on Old Lemay Ferry Road in the Arnold area. The patrol reported that he was wearing a helmet.
■ Timothy Hall, 37, of Grubville died June 1 after he lost control of his motorcycle on Hwy. WW south of Grubville and crashed. The patrol reported that he was wearing a helmet.
■ Blake A. Blackburn, 30, of De Soto died June 17 in a motorcycle crash on Old Hwy. 21 north of Orchard Drive in Otto. The patrol noted that Blackburn was wearing a helmet.
■ Michael Bradley, 55, of Arnold died June 24 after he lost control of his motorcycle while negotiating a curve on Old Gravois Road near Hwy. 30 in the Fenton area. The patrol reported that Bradley was not wearing an approved helmet.
■ John R. Morgan, 58, of St. Peters died Aug. 30 following a crash involving two motorcycles on Hwy. 30 west of Delores Drive in the Murphy area of unincorporated Fenton. Lyle Skinner, 50, of Wentzville was seriously injured in the accident. The patrol reported that Morgan was not wearing an approved helmet while Skinner was.
■ Charles White, 45, of Cedar Hill died Oct. 5 in the 4500 block of Dulin Creek Road in House Springs after his motorcycle was struck by a car. The patrol reported that White was not wearing an approved helmet.
■ Adam R. Tourville, 35, of Arnold died Oct. 17 from his injuries after a car struck him while he was riding a motorcycle on Hwy. 61-67 at River Dale Drive near Arnold. Tourville was not wearing a Department of Transportation-approved helmet, the patrol reported.
The trend isn’t looking promising for 2024, as Nicholas A. Damico, 44, of Arnold died Jan. 31 following a crash on High Ridge Boulevard west of Starlight Drive in High Ridge. It was the county’s first motorcycle fatality of the year. According to the patrol, Damico was not wearing an approved helmet.
Not so fast?
While not denying the numbers, Lt. Col. Tim Whitney of the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office cautions against drawing strong conclusions on the impact of the relaxed helmet law.
“I think (MoDOT) is being a little quick on drawing causation on helmets when it comes to motorcycle fatalities,” he said. “I’m not sure we have enough data to come to those conclusions.
“And we are definitely happy to see that overall traffic fatalities are down, both in our county and around the state.”
Whitney and Nelson concurred that more needs to be done to reduce all types of traffic fatalities.
“We talk about the three E’s when it comes to making our roadways safer,” Whitney said. “There’s engineering – designing our roads to be safer. Then there’s enforcement, which is important to keep speeds down and people driving attentively. And then there’s education. That may be at least equally as important as the other two. Learning how to drive safer – it really takes all three.”
And while Nelson said motorcycle dealers can do more to help educate their customers about safety, the onus of safety isn’t all on those plying the roads on two wheels.
“Drivers of cars and trucks also bear some responsibility while they’re on the road,” he said. “We advise drivers to look for motorcycles not once, but twice. They can be in your blind spot and you can lose sight of them more easily than a larger vehicle. Drive attentively at all times. Put away your cell phone. Everyone needs to pitch in to make our roads more safe.”
Whitney said law enforcement officers want to see fatality rates drop to zero.
“One of the most difficult – if not the most difficult – things an officer has to do is go to someone’s house and tell them that their loved one has been killed in an accident,” he said.