From a press release issued by the AMA:

RIDERS NEED TO ACT TO GET A NEW MOTORCYCLE CRASH STUDY

PICKERINGTON, Ohio — The American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) is urging motorcyclists to contact their members of Congress to support a critical new national study into the causes of streetbike crashes.

U.S. Rep. Mark Green (R-Wis.) is asking his colleagues to sign a letter addressed to U.S. Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska), chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, urging him to support a comprehensive, in-depth motorcycle crash study to find ways to prevent crashes. The last such study — “Motorcycle Accident Cause Factors and Identification of Countermeasures,” commonly called the “Hurt Report” (after lead researcher Harry Hurt) — was done more than 20 years ago.

“With motorcyclist fatalities increasing 50 percent in just the last five years, the time to act is now,” Green said in the letter.

“Initiated in 1976 and completed in 1981, the Hurt Report remains the benchmark of motorcycle crash research and, sadly, the only such comprehensive study ever undertaken in the United States,” Green’s letter went on to say. “The 1981 publication of the Hurt Report was a catalyst for the development of motorcycle crash countermeasures such as rider training and motorist awareness programs.”

The AMA Government Relations Department is working to get $3 million for an in-depth motorcycle crash study written into legislation now being considered for reauthorization by Congress: the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21).

The new crash research would involve detailed at-the-scene study of at least 1,000 crashes to find out what goes wrong for riders.

“The Hurt Report is the study that people turn to when they’re trying to figure out what causes motorcycle crashes, and what can be done to prevent crashes,” said Ed Moreland, AMA vice president for government relations. “But that information is outdated. For example, motorcyclists now are sharing the road with a new mix of vehicles compared with the late ’70s, and dealing with drivers who face a lot more distractions.”

Motorcyclists can urge their members of Congress to sign the Green letter and to support funding for a comprehensive motorcycle crash study by sending a message through the Rapid Response Center at the AMA website at www.AMADirectlink.com.