Motorcycle accident victims are getting older: medical study

A study by the University of Rochester Medical Centre shows the average age of the typical injured motorcyclist in the United States has increased from 34 years to 39 years between 1996 and 2005.
The study reviewed the hospital records of 61,689 motorcyclists aged 17 to 89 years of age involved in a motorcycle crash.
The proportion of injured riders above the age of 40 increased from around 28% to close to 50%.
“Of all injured riders included in the study, 50- to 59-year-olds represented the fastest-growing group, while 20- to 29-year-olds were the most rapidly declining,” the university notes on its Web site.
The study was published in the March issue of the American Surgeon.
The bike-riding population is aging in much the same way in Canada, Peter Jacobs, president of the Motorcyclists Confederation of Canada, said in an interview with the Toronto Star about the Rochester study results.
Jacobs told The Star that Canadian riders tend to be more “compliant” when it comes to motorcycle safety – including a near universal adoption of helmeting laws.
The age of the riders in the U.S. study affects the severity of the injuries, the university notes on its Web site.
For example, “for riders above the age of 40, injury severity, length of stay in the hospital or intensive care unit, and mortality were higher compared to riders below the age of 40,” the university says on its Web site.