62 TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH RECORD 1325 Improving Motorcycle Safety in Hawaii: Recommendations Based on a Survey of Motorcycle Owners and Operators KARL KIM AND MARK R. WILLEY A study on motorcycle safety was conducted for the Hawaii De- partment of Transportation by the ,Department of Urban and Regional Planning, University of Hawaii. The study is based on a telephone survey of 494 motorcycle owners and operators that was conducted in August 1989. Trends in motorcycle accidents are described, results from the attitudinal study are given, and several legislative, administrative, and programmatic recommen- dations for improving motorcycle safety in Hawaii are proposed, including restoring Hawaii's mandatory helmet law and requiring motorcycle safety education courses for all new riders. A dispro- portionately large share of those involved in fatal motorcycle accidents was found to be neither licensed nor insured. Some ways that licensing and registration systems might be enhanced to improve motorcycle safety in Hawaii are suggested. After the problem of motorcycle accidents in Hawaii is de- scribed, trends in motorcycle crashes and motorcycle-related deaths are discussed. Then a survey of motorcycle owners and operators conducted by the Department of Urban and Re- gional Planning, University of Hawaii, is described. An ex- amination of licensing and registration Jaws in Hawaii is also included. It is concluded that there are three types of actions that can be taken to improve motorcycle safety in Hawaii: legislative actions refer to the enactment of new laws such as mandating helmet use or motorcycle education; administra- tive actions involve improving or enhancing current regulatory actions already in place, such as improved licensing and en- forcement of existing traffic safety Jaws; and programmatic actions refer to the creation and enhancement of a variety of programs on education, public information, and further study and analysis of motorcycle accidents in Hawaii. MOTORCYCLE ACCIDENTS IN HA WAii In 1988 there were 11,544 registered motorcycles in Hawaii and 21,940 licensed operators. Motorcycles made up approx- imately 5 percent of all registered motor vehicles and ac- counted for 2.2 percent of major traffic accidents (damage over $300). However, a disproportionately large share of all traffic fatalities, 11 percent, resulted from motorcycle acci- dents. This percentage has grown greatly since the mandatory helmet law was repealed in 1977. At that time, only 4 percent of all traffic fatalities resulted from motorcycle accidents. Department of Urban and Regional Planning, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Porteus Hall 107, 2424 Maile Way, Honolulu , Hawaii 96822. In Hawaii, motorcyclists face twice the risk of being in- volved in an accident than the average automobile driver. Data in 1981 showed 251 accidents per 10,000 automobiles and 502 accidents per 10,000 motorcycles. Although this ratio narrowed by 1987 to 295 accidents per 10,000 automobiles and 442 accidents per 10,000 motorcycles, the accident ratio for motorcyclists was still far greater than that for other motor- vehicle operators . There is also reason to believe that the problem of motor- cycle accidents in Hawaii is more serious than it is in other states. In 1987 there were an estimated 509 motorcycle ac- cidents in Hawaii, resulting in 13 fatalities. This amounted to 442 accidents and 11.3 fatalities per 10,000 motorcycle reg- istrations. These figures are both above the 1987 national averages of 305.5 and 8.65 (1). As shown in Table 1, the current fatality rate per 10,000 motorcyclists is 2.5 times greater than the average fatality rate recorded during the 9 years that Hawaii had a mandatory helmet law. The repeal of the helmet law in Hawaii has meant an increase in the number of fatalities due to Jack of helmet use. In the 4 years before repeal of the act in 1977, there was not one fatality from failure to use a helmet. In the years following repeal there has been a 900 percent increase in fatalities without helmets. Average annual fatalities among helmet users, on the other hand, increased only 16 percent. The 250 percent jump in fatality rates among the total motor- cycle population has been largely due to lack of helmet use. Historically, the majority of persons killed in motorcycle accidents have been young men. The 25-years-and-under age group accounted for only 6.8 percent of Hawaii's licensed motorcycle operators (median age 39 years) but 65 .5 percent of all motorcycle fatalities. In addition, since repeal of the helmet law, the proportion of unlicensed operators killed in motorcycle accidents has increased greatly. The proportion of fatalities attributed to head injury also has increased, as has the proportion of those killed while under the influence of alcohol. These findings are summarized in Table 2. The increase in unlicensed operators is troubling, for it means that there are many untrained and uninsured motor- cyclists on the road. Approximately 16 percent of those killed in motorcycle accidents died within the first 11 months of having a motorcycle license (Table 3). Lack of training and inexperience are significant factors contributing to the overall motorcycle accident rate in Hawaii. These observations about motorcycle accidents and fatali- ties suggest a number of problems. The first problem relates to the effects of repealing the helmet Jaw. Helmets are de-