Findings from the Hurt Report 1

The Hurt report is still the definitive study on motorcycle accidents, analyzing 900 motorcycle accidents and 3600 motorcycle traffic accident reports. Although completed in 1981, lessons can still be learned today from the findings.

1. Approximately three-fourths of these motorcycle accidents involved collision with another vehicle, which was most often a passenger automobile.

2. Approximately one-fourth of these motorcycle accidents were single vehicle accidents involving the motorcycle colliding with the roadway or some fixed object in the environment.

3. Vehicle failure accounted for less than 3% of these motorcycle accidents, and most of those were single vehicle accidents where control was lost due to a puncture flat.