Motorcyclist deaths skyrocket on the roads: almost fifty more in 2023

Motorcyclist deaths have skyrocketed on Spanish roads: 299 people died in 2023 on board this type of vehicle after suffering an accident, according to provisional data published this Thursday by the General Directorate of Traffic (DGT). This figure represents an increase of 19% (45 more victims) compared to the previous year, when 254 lost their lives. “This increase is unacceptable,” admitted the Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, who has announced new measures to stop the rise: “We are very concerned.”

“Those of us who understand the passion for two wheels cannot understand that it costs us our lives,” said Marlaska during the presentation of the latest DGT road accident report, which is published every year in January with the provisional data of the accidents recorded. on the country's interurban roads. The organization's report contains as its main conclusion that the total number of deaths on Spanish roads remained stable in 2023 – 1,145, compared to 1,148 in the previous year; but it also reveals the sudden increase in dead motorcyclists, which is accompanied by a disturbing underlying trend. “Taking into account the evolution since 2012, the only means of travel that has increased road accidents is that of motorcyclists, with an increase of 37% (from 218 to 299),” adds Tráfico.

The increase also means that Spain has recorded the highest number of motorcyclists killed on interurban roads since 2008, when the number exceeded 300. This situation has set off alarm bells, although the number of victims is still far from more than 400 pilots died in 2007, when the DGT decided to launch a special plan to stop the accident rate of this type of vehicles. Then an explosive cocktail was experienced: a drastic increase in the number of motorcycles and registrations in a few years. A phenomenon that, in a certain way, has been reproduced in the last five years.

According to Traffic reports, more than 183,000 new motorcycle registrations were recorded in Spain in 2022. This level is higher than that of 2021 (173,000) and 2020 (162,000); similar to that of 2019 (the year before the coronavirus pandemic, when mobility was restricted); and is beginning to approach that of the boom of the mid-2000s, when more than 200,000 new motorcycles were registered for four years in a row (2005-2008), reaching close to 300,000 in 2007. In fact, the upward trend continues, according to the National Association of Companies in the Two-Wheel Sector (Anesdor), which states that more than 199,000 motorcycles will be registered in 2023.

At the same time, the mobile fleet of active motorcycles exceeded the figure of four million in 2022 for the first time, increasing by half a million since 2018 and by one million since 2015. “Forecasts indicate that, without measures to reverse the trend, in 2030 a 30% of those killed on the road will be motorcyclists,” said Ramón Ledesma, advisory director of the consulting firm Pons Mobility.

The ministry has identified the average profile of the deceased motorists: a man between 35 and 64 years old and with more than 10 years on his driving license. “Eight out of 10 died on conventional roads and more than half on the weekend,” Marlaska specified, adding: “Two out of three were driving large-displacement motorcycles.” According to his reports, more than half of the accidents occurred due to going off the road, distraction or excessive speed. “We have a particularly striking problem with high-power leisure motorcycles,” continues Pons Mobility: “According to Anesdor, in 2023, motorcycles of more than 750 cubic centimeters represented 17% of the market. Its design and construction are carried out to generate especially risky behavior and absolutely lacking any type of logic on a road that we aim to be increasingly safer.”

Announced measures

To tackle the problem, the minister has announced that motorcyclists will be required to use full-face or modular helmets on the road, as well as approved gloves. A mandatory course will also be established for B permit drivers with three years of experience who want to drive motorcycles of up to 125 cubic centimeters. In this sense, Marlaska has specified that this type of course “is already implemented in countries like France or Germany”: “We are designing what it will be like and how it will materialize. To drive a motorcycle of up to 125 cubic centimeters there must be a prior exercise of knowledge of the vehicle and driving, which has nothing to do with a four-wheeled vehicle,” he stressed.

The DGT has announced that the content of the points recovery courses will also be updated to incorporate a specific profile for motorists who have lost them, and for whom safe and efficient driving courses will be scheduled. “The majority of accidents are avoidable,” concluded Marlaska.

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