The number of recent collisions that have killed Edmonton motorcyclists is an “anomaly” that hasn’t been seen in nearly a decade, according to the president of a motorcycle safety group in Alberta.
Recent figures from the Edmonton Police Service show there have been five motorcyclist deaths in 2024 — all of them took place during the month of June, renewing calls from police asking bikers to remember road safety.
“Life for a motorcyclist can be fleeting – there and gone in mere seconds,” said EPS Major Collision Investigations Section Staff Sgt. Mike Wasylyshen in a July 5 news release.
“Mothers, fathers, siblings, friends and police have seen far too many people lose their lives as a result of motorcycle collisions over the years.”
The Alberta RCMP has also responded to at least three motorcycle collisions since late April involving riders from the Edmonton area, including two that were fatal.
Wasylyshen said speed almost always plays a role in motorcyclist deaths. While he wants motorcyclists to enjoy the experience of riding a bike, he emphasizes the need for safety.
“I want them to also have a healthy respect for their own mortality and please slow down,” he said.
Liane Langlois, president of the Alberta Motorcycle Safety Society, told 630 CHED Afternoons with Bryn Griffiths that her group regularly hears about a few fatalities through the major cities, but never five in a month in one city.
“This is an anomaly. It’s something that we haven’t seen in the near decade we’ve been doing the Alberta Motorcycle Safety Society,” she said in a recent interview.
“That is a record that I wish we weren’t setting, but it’s unfortunate that this is going on.”
Langlois said four out of the five fatal collisions handled by EPS were deemed rider error, with excessive speeds playing a factor. Of the five, three were single-vehicle collisions and two involved multiple vehicles, she said.
It’s a switch from the pre-COVID era, she said, when it was evenly split between rider error and vehicle error. Now, collisions are mostly deemed as rider error, Langlois said.
The age range of the riders killed might be another analytic worth looking at, she said, as most cases involved people in their 20s.
“(It) may point towards inexperience or just lack of common sense of what the power of a motorcycle can have, and how quickly that can change,” Langlois said.
Langlois said Alberta’s number of motorcycle fatalities is on par with the last couple of years, but noted that the figure is usually made up of incidents spread out across the province.
“You don’t necessarily hear about all of them … in one city,” she said. “That’s what makes it a panic for everybody.”
Langlois said it’s important to remember that most motorcyclists are following road rules like speed limits.
It’s often hard to judge the speed of a motorcycle because of its smaller size, she said.
“The vast majority of motorcycle riders out there are going the speed limit, are wearing all their gear, are doing everything right,” she said.
“We just want to make sure that everybody’s looking out for everybody and take that second look at intersections before you turn, just to be sure that it’s clear.”
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