Introduction to Bike:
Do you remember learning to ride a bike? I do and I bet the memories are similar to lots of your experiences. With one of your parents guiding you, you wobbled around the driveway a few times until you finally got the hang of peddling, steering and staying upright. It was quite an accomplishment.
I'm starting this blog with that early riding experience in mind and hoping that this is the start of a new riding and bicycle experience for Andover. Certainly the time is right for considering the bicycle as an equal partner to all those cars and trucks now on our roads. Andover is a great town and has done an outstanding job of preserving open space, providing walking paths and showing an environmental concern while maintaining growth. Wouldn't it be great for us to build on those efforts and make the town a community tied together through safe, comprehensive bicycle paths, clearly marked roadways used by responsible and educated bicycle riders.
Despite significant gains since the enactment of Federal motor vehicle and highway safety legislation in the mid 1960's, the annual toll of traffic crashes remains tragically high. In 2001, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration�s (NHTSA�s) Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) and General Estimates System (GES) revealed that approximately 42,116 people were killed and another 3.03 million were injured on our Nation�s roadways. Traffic crashes continue to account for 95 percent of all transportation fatalities and 99 percent of injuries, and represent the leading cause of death for individuals ages 4 through 33. The large number of crashes has placed a considerable burden on our Nation's health care system affecting the economy � reaching $230.6 billion a year, or an average of $820 for every person living in the United States. [2]
Recent data indicate that deaths and injuries attributable to motorcycle crashes are becoming a larger portion of this grave public health problem. Motorcycle crash-related fatalities have been increasing since 1997, while injuries have been increasing since 1999. More than 100,000 motorcyclists have died in traffic crashes since the enactment of the Highway Safety Act and the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966. Like other road users who are urged to protect themselves from injury or death by wearing safety belts, driving unimpaired, and observing traffic rules, many motorcycle deaths could be prevented if motorcyclists would take responsibility for ensuring they have done everything possible to make the ride safe by taking operator training, wearing protective gear, and riding sober.
The effects of a crash involving a motorcycle can often be devastating. While 20 percent of passenger vehicle crashes result in injury or death, an astounding 80 percent of motorcycle crashes result in injury or death. According to NHTSA's data, while total traffic deaths increased by four tenths of a percent in 2001, motorcycle deaths were up by 10 percent, compared to 2000. Motorcyclist fatalities have increased each year since reaching an historic low of 2,116 fatalities in 1997. In 2001, 3,181 motorcyclists were killed, an increase of over 50 percent between 1997 and 2001. Without this substantial increase in motorcyclist fatalities between 1997 and 2001, overall highway fatalities would have experienced a marked reduction of about 2.5 percent over this same time period, see Table 1.
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