Deadly Long Island motorcycle crashes surge, putting spotlight on safety

A recent surge in deadly motorcycle crashes on Long Island after a statewide increase last year in such fatalities is putting a spotlight on the issue, including among motorcycle riders who are concerned about their safety.

Motorcycle crashes in May and June claimed at least 12 lives Islandwide, surpassing last year's death toll of at least six people during the same months, according to a Newsday analysis. 

Chris Beckhans, president of the nonprofit Long Island ABATE, which stands for American Bikers for Awareness, Training and Education, said the statistics speak volumes about the increasing dangers riders face in Nassau and Suffolk counties.

Distracted driving, he said, is becoming more problematic, both on the part of car and motorcycle operators. Another big threat occurs at intersections, where cars making left turns fail to adequately judge the speed or distance of motorcycles or just don't see them at all, according to Beckhans. 

"Since a motorcycle is small, they can hide behind a thumb from a few hundred feet away. Cars think they can make the turn and often the motorcyclist can't stop in time," he said.

Longtime rider Jerry McClendon, 59, of Islandia, said the entire metro area poses a unique set of challenges for motorcyclists. The dangers led him to take a two-plus decade break from riding to raise his children before turning back to it 14 years ago.

Once you leave the metro area, "the people drive less stressed out and it's less crowded," McClendon said.

Newsday’s analysis of the numbers was based on news releases from Long Island police agencies — including Nassau, Suffolk and state police — of crash fatalities from May to June in both 2023 and 2024. Nassau police didn't immediately confirm the data for the time period requested.

'In over their heads'

Details of the crashes authorities released showed that of the 12 motorcyclists who recently died in crashes, six were 30 or under. Two were in their 30s and four were in their 40s. 

Police said factors linked to the crashes included loss of control, speeding and cars turning left.

Five were single-vehicle crashes and two involved motorcyclists colliding with cars making left turns, according to police, who didn't provide information on possible crash causes in two other cases.

The three additional crashes were on local highways, one of which resulted in a felony charge for a car driver — who pleaded not guilty — for allegedly leaving the scene of a deadly wreck.

Another was a wrong-way crash that authorities said remains under investigation. The other fatal wreck involved a motorcycle striking the back of a tractor trailer.

Motorcycle safety instructor Herick Kumar, 30, said he learned how vulnerable motorcyclists are during his first year traversing Long Island about seven years ago — when six companions in his riding group died in separate crashes on the Island and in New York City.

Kumar, who lives in Hicksville and works for On the Road Again Motorcycle School, said he believes motorcyclists can be their own worst enemies.

"Ego is the biggest killer of motorcyclists; people get in over their heads. They think they're better than they really are and then they find out the hard way, sometimes through life-altering events," he said.

On July 19, Kumar joined the motorcycle school's owner, Steve Bertoline, and another coach to teach a group of 11 riders the second half of a two-day, 12-hour basic rider course in a Nassau Community College parking lot.

With summer and motorcycle season in full swing, the aim was for the students to step away with more than a few lifesaving tips. A passing grade would allow the students to bypass a road test and receive a motorcycle license after passing a written state exam.

Then the students would qualify to join the legions of other motorcyclists on Long Island's roads who already are confronting safety challenges.

Crashes up across country

Road safety experts said motorcyclists are more vulnerable to serious injury due to the lack of a protective shield around them. They cautioned motorcyclists should remain visible at all times and assume that other drivers will not see them. 

Unsafe speed and improper passing or lane changing are consistently top contributing crash factors, said Alec Slatky, a spokesman for AAA Northeast.

"Too many people, whether they're drivers or motorcyclists, act as if they're the only ones on the road," Slatky added.

Preliminary 2023 statistics from the Institute For Traffic Safety Management & Research in Albany, a nonprofit that maintains state and county vehicle crash data, show 193 people died in motorcycle crashes in New York in 2023, a nearly 12% jump from 2022, when there were 173 such fatalities.

Last year's preliminary numbers also show a 45% increase compared with four years earlier, when 133 people died in motorcycle wrecks  in 2019.

The statewide jump is in line with a nationwide rise in motorcycle traffic deaths. Preliminary federal estimates show a 2% jump nationally in motorcyclist traffic fatalities in 2023 compared with a record 6,218 in 2022, the most people killed that way since federal authorities started keeping track in 1975, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Local safety experts said they’re not sure about the reason or reasons behind the increase, but the NHTSA said in 2022, 35% of motorcyclists involved in fatal crashes nationwide were riding without valid motorcycle licenses.

In addition, in New York in 2023 there were nearly 6,000 more motorcycles registered compared with 2021, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, a nonprofit based in Arlington, Virginia.

Types of motorcycles include cruisers, sport bikes and three-wheeled vehicles. Cruisers are known for comfort with a low-slung design that keeps the rider’s feet forward and hands up, while sport bikes are designed for speed and performance and the rider sits leaning forward. Three-wheeled bikes, or trikes, provide stability and control. Sport bikes are more frequently involved in crashes, according to the Virginia nonprofit.

A special skill set

Students who took part in the July 19 motorcycle school class ranged in age from 20 to 50.

They headed into the balmy morning in state-mandated helmets, boots, long pants and shirts while practicing how to turn, brake, shift lanes and more. 

Bertoline, 63, of Baldwin, gestured at one of the riders to relax while holding the handlebars. The motorcycle school owner said members of the class appeared to be picking up the required skills. He and Kumar watched as they eased into turns and made sure to check their surroundings while navigating a safety course. 

But not all of them were in a rush to immediately hit the road, even if they seemed on track toward earning their motorcycle licenses.

Student Saja Saddon, an intensive care unit nurse, said she knows the perils of riding firsthand after treating her fair share of motorcycle crash victims. But the 29-year-old Westbury resident said she was hoping to add motorcycling to her list of hobbies, which include Jiu Jitsu and Muay Thai.

Her back stiff, she gripped the handlebars of a Kawasaki, slowly maneuvering around cones on the course. Despite the effort, Saddon didn't pass the skills evaluation later that day.

"Truthfully, I need more practice," Saddon said.

The new rider said she also needed to work on her mindset.

"I think it will be a battle between being confident in my skills versus being paranoid of what could happen," Saddon added.

Instructors at On the Road Again advised even those who passed the skills test that day to practice riding on back roads first.

Motorcycling, like a sport, requires a special skill set that driving a car doesn't. There’s balancing, gear shifting and using both a brake pedal and a handbrake.

It's important for motorcyclists to be aware of the risks and to drive defensively, according to Diane Ortiz, who owns Big Apple Motorcycle School, which offers riding courses at Heckscher State Park.

"We try and give them the tools that they need to be safe out on the road," she said. "It's important to have a mental as well as a physical strategy to ride."

Ortiz also stressed that motorcyclists should never stop improving.

"We always encourage people to continue training and to increase their proficiency," she said.