A Sergeant First Class assigned to Fort Eustis, Virginia, died in a PMV-2 mishap 5 October 2021 in Virginia Beach, Virginia, at 1330 local. The Soldier was on pass when he was involved in a collision with a civilian vehicle. He had little to no reaction time when the vehicle pulled out in front of him. He was pronounced dead at the scene. The Soldier was wearing personal protective equipment and had a recent certification card on hand. The use of alcohol or drugs as contributing factors are unknown at this time. This mishap is still under investigation by the Virginia Beach Police.
Since 2017, the Army has lost an average of 25 Soldiers a year to PMV-2 mishaps. This mishap was the sixth off-duty PMV-2 fatality of FY22 and the same number of fatalities for the same time period last year.
Even if you are doing everything right, your odds of serious injury or death greatly increase when riding a motorcycle.
When comparing car versus motorcycle accidents, the difference in survival rates is alarming. Motorcyclists are 27 times more likely to die in a crash than those driving cars. The passenger death rate is nearly six times higher in motorcycle crashes than in auto accidents. Year after year, statistics reveal that more people are killed in car crashes than they are in motorcycle crashes. However, when it comes to the rate at which people are dying in these crashes, there is no question about it: the fatality rates are much higher with motorcycles. You can see the latest data from the Insurance Information Institute (III):
Car vs. Motorcycle Fatality RatesFatality Rate, 2017
Per 100,000 registered vehicles
Motorcycles: 59.34
Passenger cars: 10.05
Per 100 million vehicle miles traveled
Motorcycles: 25.67
Passenger cars: 0.94
The III reports that in 2017, the occupant fatality rate per 100,000 registered vehicles was 59.34 for motorcycles and 10.05 for passenger cars. In other words, the occupant fatality rate per 100,000 registered vehicles was nearly six times higher among motorcycle crashes.
When comparing the car versus motorcycle fatality rate per 100 million vehicle miles traveled, the statistics become even more shocking. The fatality rate with motorcycles was 25.67, compared to a fatality rate of 0.94 for passenger cars.