TxDOT's statewide Share the Road motorcycle safety and public awareness campaign urge motorists to look twice for motorcycles at intersections and when changing lanes, the two places where serious motorcycle collisions commonly occur.
Motorcyclists are dying in record numbers. In 2010, 429 motorcyclists were killed, accounting for 14 percent of the state’s traffic deaths. Without aggressive steps to promote public awareness about the dangers facing motorcyclists, the Texas Transportation Institute's Center for Transportation Safety estimates that the state’s motorcycle death toll could double by 2015.
Researchers point to the fact that the number of motorcycles on Texas roadways has more than doubled to 422,815 in the last decade and is expected to double again in the next four years. Because motorcycles have a much smaller profile than other vehicles, it can be difficult for drivers to judge the speed and distance of an approaching motorcycle. As a result, drivers involved in crashes with motorcycles say they never saw the motorcyclist and were unable to react in time to prevent the crash.
125 East 11th Street . Austin, Texas 78701 
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