Moped and Motrocycle Deaths and Serious Bodily Injury on the rise in Mississippi
With gas prices on the rise many Mississippians are turning to fuel efficient "mopeds" or motorcycles for transportation. However, the gas savings may be outweighed by the risk of death or serious bodily injury.
Take mopeds for example. Too slow to keep up with highway traffic and too fast to be easily passed, mopeds increasingly are involved in fatal accidents across the USA. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHSTA) reports the number of fatalities involving mopeds doubled between 2005 and 2009, from 48 to 96.
Motorcycle riders also face a disturbing statistic. "Per vehicle mile traveled in 2007, motorcyclists were about 37 times more likely than passenger car occupants to die in a motor vehicle traffic crash and 9 times more likely to be injured" according to a National Highway Safety Administration report.
Riding motorcyles and mopeds
are obviously dangerous endeavors, even moreso when drivers don't wear helmets. Additionally, vehicles tend to treat motorcylists and "mopeders" differently than other vehicles on the road which tend to cause accidents. Barry Gonsalves says he and James Grisham were joking about who could make it down a big hill the fastest on their mopeds at 9 p.m. on Oct. 9 when a car came from behind, hitting and killing Grisham. Grisham, 49, was one of at least 10 moped riders killed in South Carolina this year, according to research by Democratic state Sen. Thomas Alexander's office.
