A national safety organization projects that motorcycle fatalities in the U.S. will be down by nearly 2 percent for 2014, only the third decrease since 1997. But Pennsylvania saw a slight increase in motorcycle deaths last year.

The Governors Highway Safety Association, based in Washington, D.C., used data for the first nine months of 2014 to project that 4,584 people lost their lives on motorcycles during the full year, a drop of 1.8 percent from 2013.

In Pennsylvania, there were 186 motorcycle fatalities last year, up from 181 the year before but down from the 210 deaths recorded in 2012, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.

Although U.S. motorcycle deaths have declined for two consecutive years, the association said there has long been a lack of significant progress in improving safety. Deaths per registered passenger vehicle fell 66 percent from 1997 to 2013, and deaths per registered motorcycle remained about the same.

The total number of fatalities among motorcyclists has risen 122 percent since 1997 and passenger vehicle deaths fell by 30 percent. As a result, motorcycle fatalities now make up 14 percent of all traffic deaths, up from 5 percent.

Fatality rates per mile driven by motorcyclists were 26 times that of passenger vehicle occupants in 2013, according to the National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration.

“There is little evidence that risk factors for motorcyclists have been reduced in recent years, and fluctuations in motorcyclist fatalities are likely to have more to do with economic factors and weather patterns,” said the national report, “Motorcycle Traffic Fatalities by State,” issued Wednesday.

Chairman Kendell Poole of the governors group said states should adopt universal helmet laws, calling helmets “the single most effective way to prevent serious injury and death in the event of a motorcycle crash.” Only 19 states have universal helmet laws; Pennsylvania’s was repealed in 2003.

Alcohol impairment and speeding are among the major factors in motorcycle deaths, the association said. In 2013, 28 percent of those killed had blood-alcohol levels above the legal limit and 34 percent were speeding.

Jon Schmitz: jschmitz@post-gazette.com, 412-263-1868 or on Twitter @pgtraffic.

First Published: May 20, 2015, 5:13 p.m.
Updated: May 21, 2015, 3:05 a.m.