Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month

May 2025

Nationally, motorcyclists are overrepresented in crashes and fatalities. In 2023, 97 motorcyclists lost their lives, and motorcyclists were involved in 1,229 injury crashes on Louisiana's roads. Nationally, the fatality rate for motorcyclists was 22 times more than the passenger car occupant fatality rate in 2022, per 100 million vehicle miles traveled. As vulnerable road users, motorcyclists should practice safe and responsible operator behavior such as obeying speed limits, wearing a helmet, and not operating their motorcycle under any form of impairment. Additionally, motorists should always be aware of and share the road with motorcycles. 

A universal helmet law was enacted in Louisiana in 2004 and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates that over 43% of motorcyclist fatalities across the United States in 2013 could have been prevented by use of a helmet. For more information on Motorcycle Operator Training Courses, please contact the Department of Public Safety. Organizations, such as the Motorcycle Awareness Campaign, are funded by the Louisiana Highway Safety Commission to raise awareness of motorcyclists among the motoring public.

Marketing Materials:

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, through Traffic Safety Marketing, has produced motorcycle safety marketing materials, earned media tools, and marketing ideas that you can distribute to meet your local needs and objectives while collaborating with other organizations and communities to promote and enforce motorcycle safety. For social-norming marketing materials, please click here. (Please select, tailor, and distribute this information in a way that best fits the needs of your local community and objectives.)