Body Region and Nature of Injury
- Information from death certificates issued in 2018 show that 32% of motorcycle traffic fatalities were associated with a traumatic brain injury.
- Death certificates provide only limited information about the nature of injuries; nearly 100% of certificates cited at least one unspecified injury as an immediate or contributing cause of death.
- For non-fatal injuries among motorcycle riders that required hospitalization in 2013 and 2014, injuries to the lower extremities were responsible for the highest percentage of hospitalizations at 32%, followed by traumatic brain injuries and torso injuries each at 20%.
- The two most common types of principal injuries sustained in non-fatal motorcycle crashes requiring hospitalization in 2013 and 2014 were fractures (68%) and injuries to internal organs (21%).
- Upper-extremity and lower-extremity injuries account for more than half of injuries to motorcycle riders treated in emergency departments in 2013 and 2014.
- Superficial wounds and fractures together account for more than half of injuries to motorcycle riders treated in emergency departments in 2013 and 2014.
Injury and Hospitalization Data
Motorcycle traffic crashes often result in fatal or serious injuries that require inpatient or outpatient hospital care and treatment. Fatal injuries, although the most severe, account for only a small portion of the overall injury burden among motorcyclists. In fact, nearly seven times more non-fatal injury hospitalizations and more than 22 times more emergency department visits occurred for non-fatal injuries during the three-year period from 2013 to 2015.
- In 2020, the median hospital charge for motorcyclists admitted to a Florida hospital for the treatment of traffic crash injuries was $133,924.00.
- In 2020, the median hospital charge for motorcyclists treated and released from a Florida emergency department for the treatment of traffic crash injuries was $9,537.00.
- Total hospital charges for the initial treatment of motorcyclists injured in traffic crashes in 2020 was nearly $986 million.
- In 2020, 55% of motorcyclist hospitalizations and emergency department visits were not covered by commercial insurance.
Motorcycle Traffic Crash Summary Statistics in Florida (2020):
| The median age of motorcyclists fatally injured in Florida. | 39 |
| The percent of motorcyclist fatalities related to traumatic brain injuries. | 31% |
| The percent of motorcyclists fatally injured in Florida who are Florida residents. | 94% |
| The number of non-fatal hospitalizations for every motorcyclist fatality. | 6 |
| The number of non-fatal ED visits for every motorcyclist fatality. | 14 |
| The percent of motorcyclist hospitalizations and ED visits not covered by commercial insurance. | 55% |
| The median hospital charge for motorcyclists treated and released from a Florida ED for treatment of traffic crash injuries. | $9,537.00 |
| The median hospital charge for motorcyclists admitted to a Florida hospital for the treatment of traffic crash injuries. | $133,924.500 |
| The total hospital charges for motorcyclists treated in a Florida ED or hospital that were injured in a traffic crash. | $985,831,130.00 |
Source:
• Florida Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) Hospital Inpatient and ED Data for 2020
• Florida Department of Health Bureau of Vital Statistics Death Certificates for 2020