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September 17, 2026Injury Prevention

Longitudinal assessment of protective equipment in US professional motorcycle athletes

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Authors

MMMarisa McDowESEric M. SwansonKHKeeli Hanzelka

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Overview

Observational cohort study reveals reduced injuries and acute medical care in professional motorcycle racers, highlighting the safety benefits of mandatory protective equipment policies.

Key Points

  • To evaluate longitudinal changes in protective gear use and crash-related injuries among professional motorcycle racers following expanded mandatory airbag suit requirements.
  • Retrospective observational cohort study evaluating all on-track crashes across the 2024 (pre-expansion, n=498) and 2025 (post-expansion, n=379) MotoAmerica racing seasons.
  • Race officials and track medical personnel recorded crash types, airbag suit and rotation-protection helmet adoption, airbag deployments, observed injuries, and acute medical interventions.
  • Airbag suit utilization increased from 60% in 2024 to 67% in 2025 (p=0.017), and rotation-protection helmet use increased from 6% to 9% (p=0.096).
  • Despite an increase in high-risk collision or high-side crashes in 2025 (26% vs 18%, p=0.007), injury-causing crashes decreased from 16% to 8% (p=0.001).
  • Crashes requiring ambulance transport dropped from 9% to 5% (p=0.045), and the need for trackside medical facility care or hospital transfer declined from 17% to 12% (p=0.019).

Cite This Study

McDow et al. (2026) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/6aabb7275f706d05830e5f75https://doi.org/10.1136/ip-2026-046291
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Also Consider

Synapse has enriched 5 closely related papers on similar clinical questions. Consider them for comparative context:

  1. 1Helmet use among cyclists and motorcyclists involved in media-reported road traffic crashes after implementation of the national ‘One Helmet, One Belt’ campaign in China2025 · 1 citations
  2. 2Impact of Safety Device Features Upon Motor Vehicle Collision Facial Fracture Traumas: A Five-Year Retrospective Study in the Appalachian Tri-State Area2024 · 1 citations
  3. 3Experience Sharing and Pitfall Cases of Medical Rescue in the Taiwan Superbike Series Racing2026
  4. 4Injury risk curves for motorcycles in the United States2025
  5. 5Declining helmet use and emerging electric vehicle injuries among pediatric patients presenting with micromobility accidents: A single-center analysis2026