IIHS Studies Motorcycle ABS
N
early a decade after the In-
surance Institute for Highway
Safety first called for a federal
mandate requiring street-legal
motorcycles to be equipped with
antilock braking systems (ABS),
the data continue to pile up in
favor of this lifesaving technology.
According to the IIHS, ex-
amining fatal crash rates for 65
motorcycle models offering ABS
as an option over 2013-19, the
researchers found that bikes
equipped with the feature were
involved in 22 percent fewer fatal
crashes per 10,000 registered ve-
hicle years. A registered vehicle
year is equal to one motorcycle
registered for one year.
"We have known that ABS
saves lives and have been saying
it should be mandatory for 10
years now," says IIHS Director of
Statistical Services Eric Teoh, the
author of the study. "This study
is our most expansive one yet on
the topic and confirms the impor-
tance of this feature."
In earlier studies, Teoh had
found a somewhat larger effect
on fatal crash rates for ABS than
he found in the new analysis.
One likely explanation is that the
2011 and 2013 studies involved
fewer types of motorcycles. The
new study has many more sport,
unclad sport and supersport
bikes, for example, and their rid-
ers didn't benefit as much from
the technology as other motorcy-
clists. That may be because they
are more likely to be ridden ag-
gressively and at higher speeds.
Because the study was limited
to motorcycles on which ABS was
available as an option, the results
might also have been skewed
by the exclusion of the growing
number of models on which the
feature is already standard.
"The bottom line is that 22
percent is a very big effect," says
Teoh. "When it comes to deci-
sions riders can make to protect
themselves, choosing ABS is
right up there with wearing a
helmet."
Click on the link to view the
complete report on the IIHS mo-
torcycle anti-lock study.
CN
IN
THE
WIND
P44
ABS for motorcycles appears
to indeed save lives.
