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Chattanooga: Motorcycle fatalities on the rise

By: Jacqueline Koch
(Contact)

Included in this article

Assistant Chief Mike Williams and Lt. David Roddy

Steve Jarrett walked away from his Sept. 17 motorcycle crash on Brainerd Road with scrapes and a sore body.

Six others in similar wrecks this year weren’t as fortunate.

The Chattanooga Police Department has handled six fatalities involving motorcycles this year, including the June death of a pedestrian on the Market Street bridge during the Riverbend Festival. The most recent accident, Thursday at Moore and Brainerd roads, left a man in his late 40s dead.

In 2007, the city had four fatalities involving motorcycles through Sept. 23 and six for the entire year, records show. There were three for all of 2006.

Mr. Jarrett, who was driving the motorcycle, and his wife, Editha, his passenger, were on a 2002 Yamaha MC that struck a Kia sport utility vehicle. Both cyclists were wearing helmets, gloves and long-sleeved clothing.

“Any time you have an accident or you fall, if you bang your head (without a helmet), it’s over,” Mr. Jarrett said.

Police, who did not issue Mr. Jarret a citation, said his inexperience as a new motorcycle driver caused the accident. Mrs. Jarrett suffered a concussion, Mr. Jarrett said.

“We’re both fine,” he said. “We got banged up, we’re real sore, but we’re recovering from that.”

Traffic troubles

The number of motorcycle fatalities concerns police, especially because overall traffic fatalities in the city are down 30 percent from last year.

“The problem with (motorcycles) is you get hurt on one of those or have a wreck and get hurt, you’re hurt bad,” said Chattanooga police Assistant Chief Mike Williams, who oversees patrol operations.

Tennessee and the nation reflect the trend, with both experiencing fewer overall traffic fatalities but an increase in motorcycle deaths last year.

State motorcycle fatalities grew from 88 in 2003 to 140 in 2006 and 148 in 2007, according to the Tennessee Department of Safety.

“Motorcycle fatalties are a big problem across the nation right now,” said Kendall Poole, executive director of the Governor’s Highway Safety Office. “It’s not just in Tennessee. It’s across the board.”

Preliminary numbers show the state has begun reversing the trend this year with 97 reported motorcycle fatalities as of Wednesday, compared to 114 fatalities by the same date in 2007, Mr. Poole said.

Statewide and nationwide fatalities are down in every vehicle category except motorcycles, and organizations are struggling to determine how to calculate the number of miles driven solely by motorcycles to see if an increase in miles driven led to an increase in fatalities, Mr. Poole said.

The number of motorcycle licenses in Tennessee increased about 5 percent each year between 2003 and 2006, according to the Department of Safety.

However, in most of years since 1998, the national rate of increase in motorcyclist fatalities has been higher than the rate of increase in motorcycle registrations, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

OUT ON THE ROADS

When the weather warms, motorcycles abound on local streets and highways, said Sgt. Al Tallant with the Chattanooga Police Department bomb squad/traffic division.

In August, the city had three fatalities, including a double fatality on East Brainerd Road, according to department data.

“Naturally you have an increase in everything that goes on with them,” Sgt. Tallant said. “Just with sheer numbers, you have more out there, you have more contact with them.”

Police officers do not specifically target reckless motorcyclists because they watch for all aggressive or fast drivers, no matter what vehicles they use, he said.

High fuel prices are forcing some motorists to trade in four wheels for two, putting more motorcycles on the road, said Allen Stutzenberger, sales manager for White’s Cycle and Marine, a Kawasaki-Suzuki dealership on state Highway 58. He estimates a 10 percent to 15 percent increase in motorcycle sales over last year, and he said people also are buying scooters.

Both men and women are making the purchases, and another trend shows former riders returning to motorcycles save money on gas, he said.

“When people can get out and go spend the money and realize, ‘I can get 100 miles to the gallon or 50 to 60 miles to the gallon,’ it gives them a reason to buy a motorcycle or scooter,” Mr. Stutzenberger said.

Inexperience also may contribute to crashes, Chief Williams said.

“They’re buying the things, not getting any training, not having any experience and getting out here in this heavy traffic,” he said. “It’s a recipe for disaster.”

Sometimes it’s not reckless driving that contributes to crashes. Too-large motorcycles factor into some accidents, said Lt. David Roddy, the Chattanooga police traffic division commander.

“There are brand-new riders on oversized bikes,” he said. “And the margin for error on a motorcycle is so small.”

LEARNING TO RIDE

The Tennessee Department of Safety offers a motorcycle rider education program at 31 locations across the state. The program teaches both beginners and experienced riders the skills necessary to ride safely on the roads, including risk assessment, the proper way to use the brakes and how to do safety checks before each ride, said John Milliken, the program’s state coordinator.

“If you’re going to ride a bike, you’ve got to understand that you’re the small guy out there,” he said.

At White’s Cycle and Marine, sales employees encourage drivers to take the local safety course at Chattanooga State Technical Community College. They also help drivers determine what motorcycle best fits their needs and their body type, Mr. Stutzenberger said.

“The last thing you want to do is put somebody on something too small,” he said. “You can get hurt as just quickly as on one that’s too large.”

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