Are motorcycle crashes up from last year?

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10)- A motorcycle crash took the life of a 69-year-old man from Vergennes, Vermont, on September 14, according to the Vermont State Police. Afterward, State Police took to social media saying motorcycle fatalities were up in the state 40% over a six-year average.

NEWS10 wondered if fatal motorcycle crashes in New York were also up, so we contacted multiple state agencies including the Department of Motor Vehicles and the New York State Police who directed us to the Traffic Safety Statistical Repository (TSSR).

Crash data, not only for motorcycles but automobiles, bicycles, pedestrians, and large trucks are available on the TSSR website.

Preliminary data showed there were more fatal motorcycle crashes during 2020 than 2019 in the state, according to the Traffic Safety Statistical Repository (TSSR). There was no significant change in the number of fatal crashes from 2020 to 2021. However, there has been an increase in motorcycle crashes overall.

NEWS10 looked at fatal motorcycle crash data from January-July in 2020 and 2021 to see if there were more crashes to date in 2021 statewide. There were 85 fatal accidents during the seven-month period in 2020, compared to 84 in 2021.

We also looked at that same time period to see if there was an increase in motorcycle crashes overall. Crashes increased by 15,365 from 175,957 in 2020 to 191,322 in 2021 from January to July. Month by month data for 2020 and 2021 can be found in the table below.

Crashes overall in the state may be up, but in the Capital Region, they are down so far in 2021 compared to 2020. In 2020 there were 263, in 2021 241. Crashes TSSR reported for each local county can be found in the table below.