The name Harry Hurt may be familiar to you. However, even if its not he has changed the motorcycle safety landscape of this country in a big way.
Hurt is known as the lead investigator of the 1976-77 Technical Report, Motorcycle Accident Cause Factors and Identification of Countermeasure, commonly refered to as the "Hurt Report"
This was the first comprehensive motorcycle accident study ever contracted. Hurt and his investigators (all motorcyclists) responded to over nine-hundred motorcycle crashes in Los Angeles. They did an exhaustive study of each accident, compiling over one-thousand data elements per incident.
Some of his findings were that helmets were very effective in preventing brain trauma and death. They also found that many crashes were due to car drivers failing to see the motorcyclists.
His study has been the standard reference for over 27 years. Now the government is starting a new study. Federal Government: To Study Accident Causation
Hurt suffered a heart attack November 29th at Pomona Valley Hospital due to a complication of surgery.
Harry Hurt, seen in 1978, was a USC safety science professor who studied motorcycle crashe
s and their causes, and whose seminal study led to national changes in motorcycle safety.
Photo (Don Kelsen / Los Angeles Times)
Filed under: motorcycle accidents, Motorcycle Helmet Safety
