Every day I troll the internet for motorcycle news. Today, I noticed an article from The Suncoast News in Pinellas County, Florida titled, “Sport Motorcycles Linked to Soaring Number of Deaths.” That caught my attention. I knew that motorcycle deaths were up, and that sport bikes participated in that sad statistic, but I did not know that there was a link between the two. Well, if there was a statistical link, the article did not articulate it. There is no doubt that people riding sport bikes very, very fast have caused deaths. But there are many factors that might be involved in the overall increase in motorcycle deaths, including:

*the dramatic increase in the number of motorcycles;

*the increasing distraction of drivers, including cell phones and GPS units;

*the number of older riders;

*alcohol;

*the repeal of helmet laws;

*increasing sound isolation in cars and trucks;

*the trend toward people driving larger, truck-like vehicles;

etc. etc.

I have no idea if these factors have any causal link whatsoever with the increasing deaths - the point is that there are many factors other than sport bikes that could be involved.

The Suncoast News is jumping on a hot topic in Florida now because their state legislature is considering a bill to impose stiff penalties on reckless motorcycle riding. (Read about it here.) What worries me is that sloppy articles like the Suncoast News will fan the public’s emotions and cause even more police profiling of motorcyclists or cause the government to limit our ability to ride high-performance motorcycles. Reckless riders and the increase in motorcycle deaths are serious issues, and they deserve serious, reasoned analysis - not hysteria.