The full moon is associated with many a superstition — but new research finds it could also be associated with an increased risk of death for motorcyclists. As in, they might look at the moon and lose focus on the road.
Deadly motorcycle accidents ticked up by 5 percent on nights with full moons (which happen 12 times per year) as opposed to other nights, and skyrocketed 32 percent on nights featuring a supermoon (once a year when the full moon is particularly bright because of its proximity to Earth). Data for this research, published Monday in the BMJ, came from the U.S., the U.K., Canada and Australia.
For the U.S. data, researchers looked at registered motor vehicle crashes from 1975 to 2014. They took into account the 494 full moons and 65 supermoons during that period and determined how many deadly crashes occurred on full moon nights versus quarter moon nights. This research also included the sporadic times two full moons happened in the same month.
During the whole study period, there were 226 more deadly crashes on full moon nights. Researchers looked at similar data in the other study locations and discovered comparable findings.
“While these figures might seem low on the surface, they are quite significant,” said the study’s lead author Dr. Donald A. Redelmeier, a professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of Toronto, in a statement. “All of these deaths could have been prevented completely by small difference in behavior.”
Limitations for the study included that other distractions, not to mention traffic hazards, weren’t factored in during research. The same goes for weather or moon visibility.
Regardless, the results serve as a warning.
“The average ride on a motorcycle is more dangerous than a drunk driver with no seatbelt traveling the same distance,” Redelmeier said. “Because of this, we recommend riders and drivers orient their attention, ignore distractions, and continuously monitor their dynamic surroundings.”
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Motorcycle Deaths Associated With Full Moons, Study Says originally appeared on usnews.com
