The trend of baby boomers turning to the freedom of motorcycles hit the mainstream last spring with the movie “Wild Hogs.”

The story of a group of middle-aged men venturing out on a Harley-induced road trip and the antics that followed was a box office success.

Shortly after the movie’s arrival, the Motorcycle Safety Foundation, a national nonprofit based out of Irvine, Calif., issued a release of their own.

It was an article that – not unlike the disclaimer on the MTV show “Jackass” – urged middle-aged moviegoers not to try the stunts at home, or on the road. Along with the news release came a tip sheet for “seasoned riders” and a warning from a motorcycle trainer that “skills diminish over time.”

Pop culture, sales numbers and even the guys at the local bike shops will tell you motorcycles are hot among the generation that grew up with “Easy Rider.” With more money and time, empty nesters and soon-to-be retirees are buying the bikes they always wanted and taking the road trips they’ve dreamed of.

But here – unlike the movie – is the not so funny part: With the increasing number of boomers on bikes comes a rise in accidents, many of which are deadly.

In Kansas, the number of riders age 45 older who died in motorcycle accidents tripled in the past five years. In 2006, that demographic accounted for 27 of the 64 motorcycle fatalities in the state, according to Kansas Department of Transportation data.

The state trend mirrors national figures. Motorcycle fatalities continue to increase across all demographics, but in the past 10 years, the largest jump by far (290 percent) has been among those older than 40, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Chris Bortz, with KDOT’s Bureau of Traffic Safety, said two demographics have high rates of fatalities, the 18- to 25-year-olds and the 50- to 60-year-old crowd.

“The younger group is too aggressive on bikes and from what we are seeing, they lack the experience. The older group just hasn’t been on a bike in 20 years, and their reflexes aren’t what they used to be,” Bortz said.

A booming business

After 9/11, analyst predicted that the steady climb of motorcycle sales since the late 1990s was about to end. People would want to take less risk, the forecasters said.

The exact opposite happened.

“It looks like the culture said, ‘Hey wait a minute, I don’t know when my time is up, I want to live my dreams now,’ ” said Ray Ochs, director of training systems for the Motorcycle Safety Foundation. “So the industry has been booming for the past 10 years.”

The average age of those taking the foundation’s safety classes goes up by a year, every year, Ochs said.

The organization started to see the trend in more baby boomer accidents in 2001. Tip sheets and education campaigns followed.

“We wanted to address that emerging need,” Ochs said.

One of the major problems is convincing a 50-year-old rider who has taken a few decades off that they aren’t as experienced as they think they are.

“People aren’t the same as they were 20 years ago, and yet they go in and take on a task such as motorcycling as if they are, and that is where you could have unfortunate consequences,” said Dean Thompson, of the Motorcycle Safety Foundation.

As depressing as it sounds – people reach their physical peak in their late 20s and early 30s. From there, vision, reaction time and hearing tends to diminish, Ochs said. Added on top of that are the litany of side effects that prescription drugs can have on motor skills.

That doesn’t mean boomers should abandon their motorcycles, Ochs said. Rather, he suggests that drivers put more space between their bike and the vehicle in front of them.

The Motorcycle Safety Foundation isn’t alone in targeting boomers. KDOT has similar goals.

Norraine Wingfield, who is contracted by the state to run education campaigns on road safety issues, said KDOT is focusing on the over 40 crowd. Plans are to go to where the motorcyclists are – biker restaurants and dealers – to host training sessions and other events.

“It will be an opportunity to learn how to get back on the road again,” Wingfield said.

Keeping safe

Some say the increase in baby boomer accidents could be a sign of how many more older riders are on the road these days.

“If there are more of them out there, chances are numbers are going to be high because everyone crashes eventually,” Lawrence police Capt. Dan Affalter said. “The goal is to live through the first one.”

Affalter, at 53, can rattle through a list of close calls he has had on one of his three motorcycles.

Bottom line, he said, is that formal instruction is the best way to avoid an accident.

Affalter learned to ride at age 16 and in the Memorial Stadium parking lot. But, a riding course he took as a police officer in the 1980s convinced him training is a must.

“I thought I was a pretty good rider, and then I went through that class and I learned a lot. I learned some things that probably could have saved me a lot of grief if I had known them a little bit sooner,” Affalter said.

Since that time, he has encouraged others – including his daughter – to take classes.

Ron Mollohan, an instructor at SMART Inc., said he has seen an increase in the number of people over age 45 taking his class in Topeka. Some are relearning how to ride after years off the bike, and others are starting for the first time.

He also has those who have tried to learn to ride on their own and crashed.

Mollohan, who is 56 and has been riding for four decades, acknowledges that motor skills can slow down for those approaching 50. And, he said, the older generation might not learn as fast as their younger classmates.

“Generally, young kids take to it like ducks to water,” he said.

Watching for danger

On a sunny, fall Thursday afternoon, students arrived early to a classroom inside Harley-Davidson Topeka. They were a mix of men and women, young and old, those who have never ridden and those with some experience, but no recent riding.

Joe Ybarra was leading the motorcycle safety class. He already knew the obstacles that would stand in his students’ way.

For starters, intersections tend to be the scene for most crashes. Curves are next.

Ybarra warns his students about the dangers of drinking and driving. NHTSA statistics show that in 2005, 41 percent of those who died from single-vehicle motorcycle crashes had a blood alcohol content of what most states consider to be over the legal limit.

He also tells them to be vigilant.

“The whole world has changed in the area of motorcycles. The bikes have gotten bigger, they have gotten faster, obviously there are more people on the roads, the road patterns have changed,” Ybarra said.

But motorcycle safety concerns also fall into the hands of other drivers. Most motorcycle accidents involve another vehicle.

Part of what the Motorcycle Safety Foundation does is educate car drivers to be watchful of motorcyclists.

“Half the equation is unfortunately car drivers,” Thompson said.

Wingfield said KDOT has already been spreading the word through billboards and newspapers.

“We need to educate the public as well about the increased number of motorcycles on the road,” she said.