Motorcycle Fatalities Up Sharply In Connecticut

HARWINTON, CT – It finally feels like the motorcycle riding season may be over. While I’ve become a rider who “pushes the season” by wearing heated riding gear and riding a motorcycle with a full fairing to break the wind, I’ve always seemed to have some down time in winter – until recently.

When I took up riding 20 years ago, my bike(s) routinely got winterized and parked between early December and early March, although a New Year’s Day ride was sometimes attempted. That layoff hasn’t been the case lately. If there’s a warm day with salt-free roads in January or February, a motorcycle will get rolled out of the garage, fired up and ridden.

What exists now due to more temperate winters is a never-ending riding season, interrupted only by cold snaps and occasional snow.

Fall Riding Season Lasts Longer

Earlier this month, joined by two friends, I did a scenic loop into Massachusetts. We stopped at Haystack Mountain State Park in Norfolk on the way back and hiked up the trail and climbed the tower at the top, despite having on cumbersome riding boots and the protective gear. Other riders had the same idea that sunny day. We then proceeded for Winsted and lunch at the Railway Café.

More and more riders are venturing out year-round or starting their seasons earlier and ending them later – with horrendous consequences. The number of motorcycle deaths in Connecticut in 2024 is dramatically higher than in past years. 

As of mid-November, there were 74 rider fatalities on state roadways, an increase of 15 over 2023 and an increase of 25 from 2019. There has been at least one additional death since then.

“We are far outpacing the number of motorcyclists fatalities in recent years,” affirmed Josh Morgan, communications director of the Connecticut Department of Transportation, responding recently to an email request for data. 

“As to the why, the theory is there has been a lot more riders out given how mild the weather has been, thinking back to some of those unseasonable warm weeks starting the year, and of course, the never-ending summer/fall weather we seem to have closing out 2024.”

What Else Contributes To Death Toll?

 But there are other factors as well. 

Ask any rider and you’ll hear consistent and repeated tales of drivers in cars and trucks being oblivious to motorcycles. Close calls that used to be rare are now more common, and the need for rider focus and wariness has never been greater. Some riders have even quit riding because it’s too unsafe and unpredictable.

“Overall, driver behavior has eroded, and people are driving too fast, being distracted, and are impaired, all of which are leading to more crashes, injuries, and fatalities on our roadways,” Morgan wrote.

Reacting to the 2024 motorcycle death toll, John Purdy Jr. responded concisely, “It’s not good. I don’t like to see that. I’d like to see the number be zero.”

Purdy Offers Perspective Based On Experience

Purdy has a unique perspective. He’s an active rider and a longtime riding instructor. He got his motorcycle endorsement in 1978, three weeks after turning 16, and has ridden more than a million miles. The 62-year-old Purdy has ridden nearly 20,000 miles this year alone.

Purdy has also been a riding instructor for 28 years and oversees the Connecticut Rider Education Program classes at Naugatuck Valley Community College in Waterbury. Through experience and training, he knows how to be as safe as possible when riding. Even he worries about the potential actions of others.

“The number of people running through stop signs and running through red lights is astronomical,” Purdy said. “People just don’t care. The amount of drivers that I see doing that are on the younger side for sure.”

Advice On How To Be Safer

While the danger level for riders is increasing, Purdy suggests that interest in riding by young adults may be rising as well. NVCC offered 75 classes of the Basic Rider Course in 2024 and trained more than 900 students. That’s about the same number as in 2023.

But, Purdy said, “The number of young people coming in and taking these classes is astounding. We had seven classes that were filled with teenagers and under 24.” 

To meet anticipated demand in 2025, he plans to increase the number of BRC offerings to 80. 

Purdy has some suggestions for all riders to help reduce the odds of becoming a statistic. Among them are wear “All The Gear, All The Time,” including a full-face helmet; take additional training to improve skills; and be visible when riding, such as wearing a high-vis vest. 

“Avoid wearing a black jacket, black hemet and black jeans,” he said, and always assume that drivers don’t or won’t see you. “You’ve got to ride your motorcycle like you’re invisible.”

But Drivers Need To Do Better

Like all riders, Purdy abhors the distracted actions of drivers. “What is the hurry? Where are you going? Where is the fire? They just don’t care,” he said. “They don’t care – until they hurt somebody.”

Or kill someone. 

The loss of 75 or more fellow riders this year particularly resonates with me having lost a close friend more than decade ago when a driver failed to see him approaching and pulled into his path. My friend was dressed in black, riding a vintage black motorcycle without an illuminated headlight and wearing a worthless half-helmet. He suffered a traumatic brain injury. 

 The death of every motorcyclist affects others besides the victim, and the impact for them is ever-lasting.    

(A version of this column appeared in the “Republican-American” newspaper on Nov. 30, 2024.)