10 Rider Fatalities During Sturgis Rally – 8 Without Helmets

By Jerry Perez - August 17, 2016

The age old question; should you, or should you not wear a helmet. You don’t have to ask me, as I already know, but unfortunately the dilemma between the feeling of freedom and increasing one’s chances of surviving a crash is still claiming lives.

According to the Rapid City Journal, this year’s Sturgis Rally was one of the safest and least deadly rallies in a very long time, as the South Dakota Highway Patrol claims only three lives were lost between 6 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 6, to 6 a.m. Sunday, Aug. 14. Such numbers make last year’s rally a total bloodbath with over 15 deaths total.

But the story changes as a bit if you expand the geographic area, and look at the roads riders use to head home. Following the conclusion of the rally, the accident and death rate of areas bordering the Black Hills region immediately spiked, claiming another seven lives, making it a total of 10. That we know of…

While it’s impossible to predict whether those poor riders would’ve survived had they been wearing a helmet, it’s highly likely that it would’ve helped. Over half of reported accidents were of caused by failure to negotiate tight turns, motorcycles leaving the road perhaps due to distractions or fatigue, and only a couple of two-vehicle collisions. In many cases, riders were pronounced dead-at-the-scene, with only two or so getting medical help on time, but passed away later on.

Let’s hope for a safer 2017.