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The 2003 total is 20 higher than last year's, accelerating an alarming trend. The number of fatalities has increased rapidly since 1995, when there were 47.
The increase should fuel demands that a portion of state revenue from motorcycle registration and licensing fees be hard-wired for safe-riding programs, safety instructors say.
In Minnesota, 52 motorcyclists have died this year, also more than twice the total in 1997, which was 23. Both totals — the 98 in Wisconsin and the 52 in Minnesota — were logged as of Tuesday.
Experts cite several reasons for the increases, which mirror national trends: more motorcycles, cars and trucks on the road; more miles ridden by motorcyclists; bigger bikes; and an increase in older bikers. Many have returned to motorcycling after many years and have
rusty skills, while others are novices who haven't mastered safety skills on smaller cycles before buying big ones.
In any case, improving riders' skills could help rusty skills, while others are novices who haven't mastered safety skills on smaller cycles before buying big ones.
In any case, improving riders' skills could help reverse or at least stabilize the annual toll, safety instructors say.
While the state kicked in an additional $200,000 for motorcycle safety instruction this year, it still wasn't enough to erase the waiting list, said Ron Thompson, manager of the Wisconsin Department of Transportation's Motorcycle Safety Program. "We still don't have enough to serve all the students who want to ride a motorcycle.''
Thompson said he has no idea how many riders couldn't get into programs this year, but last year the statewide waiting list exceeded 3,000.
The $200,000 increase brought the total to $654,000 following six years at $454,000. Thompson said the goal was to train 8,500 riders in basic motorcycle instruction this year. Last year there were 6,063 graduates of the basic rider skills course.
Tom Lane, coordinator of the safe rider program of ABATE of Wisconsin Inc., said there have been previous attempts to earmark revenues from motorcycle registration and license fees specifically for training, but they've been turned back.
"It's very convoluted. They won't segregate the funds so they will always be there,'' said Lane.
Each year, the Department of Transportation makes a recommendation to the Legislature as to how transportation revenue should be allocated, said Catherine Miller, budget analyst with the DOT. "We say, ‘Here is amount of money. Here's what we think are good uses,' '' and then lawmakers decide.
Besides instructor salaries, the money goes for program administration, insurance, motorcycle purchases and maintenance.
Randy Romanski, executive assistant to Transportation Secretary Frank Busalacchi, said he's not aware of any current legislative proposals to earmark fees from motorcyclists for training programs.
"There is always a hard push for this but it just don't happen,'' Lane said.
Romanski said the current funding level is expected to continue, and ideally will help eliminate waiting lists for basic skills programs.
The state's new lower blood-alcohol limit should help save lives of motorcyclists as well as other drivers, and the state will continue pushing the message that drivers should slow down, be more attentive and use safety equipment, Romanski said.
Lane and Andy Truscott, coordinator of the motorcycle training program at Western Wisconsin Technical College, said that while the additional $200,000 this year was much welcome, it's obviously still not enough. They and other motorcycle safety instructors say the state needs to earmark part of the revenue from cyclists' registration and license fees for safety instruction programs.
Thompson said the need for more safe-rider courses seems to grow with each graduate. As word gets around, more people want to enroll, he said.
Besides the waiting list, there is also a need for more motorcycles, said Truscott, who this year had to borrow bikes from several local dealerships. The only two state-provided bikes are of mid-1980s vintage.
In most cases, the bikes used for training are much smaller than the motorcycles that riders will be operating on the road, Truscott said.
Instead of buying smaller bikes to start with and moving up to bigger ones after proving their skills, many are going straight for the heavy, more powerful models, he said.
So not only are they on bikes that can get them into trouble fast if they're not careful, motorcyclists are in traffic that is much more dangerous than in the past. "They're on the road with people who have cell phones in their ears and with SUVs who think they own the road,'' Lane said.
The bottom line, he said, is people need to take personal responsibility for safety on the road, no matter what type of vehicle they're driving.
Joe Buttweiler can be reached at jbuttweiler@lacrossetribune.com or at (608) 791-8218.
Training
There are about 17 motorcycle skills training programs in Wisconsin, mostly run through technical colleges.
The basic skills course teaches about the motorcycle itself, balance, control, evasive maneuvers and quick stops.
The advanced class goes more into evasive maneuvers, advanced turning skills and heavy-duty braking.
Fewer than 10 percent of the riders who go through the basic skills course attend the advanced course. In 2001, a total of 6,263 graduated from the basic skills course and 603 completed the advanced course.
Participants pay $85 for the sessions, less for the experienced rider courses, for which riders use their own bikes.
For more information on motorcycle crash statistics in Wisconsin, go to the state Department of Transportation Web site at www.dot.wisconsin.gov and click on "Motorcycles'' at the bottom of the home page.
