NCJ Number
96236
Date Published
1984
Length
114 pages
Annotation
A survey undertaken to determine the risk involved in the use of the police motorcycle is discussed.
Abstract
The survey sample consisted of police agencies selected nationally from mailing lists of the Institute of Police Traffic Management; cities selected randomly from the FBI Uniform Crime Reports, the International City Management Association, the Municipal Year Book (1972); and from lists supplied by motorcycle manufacturers. Of the 681 agencies that responded to the survey, 301 were currently using police motorcycles. Results reveal that just over half (51.3 percent) of the responding departments operated motorcycles less than 10,000 miles per year. In fact, 80 percent of the respondents indicated an annual average mileage of less than 15,000 miles. More than 75 percent of the respondents who used police motorcycles reported two or less motorcycle accidents in a 2-year period; only 3 percent of the respondents reported a fatality resulting from a motorcycle accident. Slightly more than 76 percent of the respondents indicated that no serious injuries occurred from motorcycle accidents over the past 12 months; 16.7 percent had one serious injury in the same period; and 5.4 percent reported two serious injuries. Forty-nine percent of the respondents who experienced accidents attributed them to rider error. Findings further reveal that 2.8 percent of law enforcement agencies in the United States use police motorcycles; reasons that many do not use motorcycles include the environment, fear of injuries, and cost. Fifteen figures, lists of respondents and police departments using motorcycles, and a copy of the survey instrument are provided.