Antilock brakes on motorcycles reduces frequency of claims and deaths

The use of antilock brakes on motorcycles reduces the frequency of crashes for which insurance claims are filed and the rate of fatal motorcycle crashes, according to research by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS).
The Highway Loss Data Institute (an affiliate of the IIHS) compared insurance losses under collision coverage for 12 motorcycle models with optional antilock brakes versus the same models without the option.
The researchers then evaluated the effects of antilock brakes on both the frequency of insurance claims that are filed for crash damage and the average cost of damage, the IIHS says in its October 2008 Status Report.
Regression analysis revealed 21% lower insurance losses for motorcycles with antilocks, primarily because the claim frequency was 19% lower than for bikes without antilocks.
In a complementary study, Institute researchers examined rates of fatal crashes of motorcycle models with and without antilocks.
A main finding of this study is that there were 6.6 fatal crashes per 10,000 registered motorcycles without antilocks during 2005-06, the IIHS reports.
The corresponding rate for the same bike models equipped with optional antilocks is 4.1, or 38% lower.
Though research shows antilock brakes to be more effective on motorcycles than on cars, they are recent additions to motorcycles, and are available almost exclusively as optional equipment on select models, the IIHS notes.
“It isn’t surprising that antilock brakes are more beneficial on motorcycles than they are on cars because the 2-wheelers are so much less stable, and it’s this instability that contributes to so many crashes,” said Adrian Lund, IIHS president.
“By reducing wheel lockup during braking, antilocks keep a lot of motorcycles from overturning.”