Hugh Harrison (Harry) Hurt, Jr., (December 13, 1927 – November 29, 2009) was an American researcher on

motorcycle safety Motorcycle safety is the study of the risks and dangers of motorcycling, and the approaches to mitigate that risk, focusing on motorcycle design, road design and traffic rules, rider training, and the cultural attitudes of motorcyclists and other r ...

. He was the author of the 1981

Hurt Report The Hurt Report, officially ''Motorcycle Accident Cause Factors and Identification of Countermeasures'', was a motorcycle safety study conducted in the United States, initiated in 1976 and published in 1981. The report is named after its primary ...

, described as "the most comprehensive motorcycle safety study of the 20th century."

Early life

Hurt was born and raised in Big Spring in

West Texas West Texas is a loosely defined region in the U.S. state of Texas, generally encompassing the arid and semiarid lands west of a line drawn between the cities of Wichita Falls, Abilene, and Del Rio. No consensus exists on the boundary betwee ...

. He was an only child, and his father worked in the banking industry. Hurt graduated from

Texas A&M University Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...

in 1950, and was an air transport pilot for the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

during the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

. He married Joan Beene in 1950, and had five children with her: Harry, John, Julie, Vivien, and Vera. He then received a Master's degree in aeronautical engineering from the

University of Southern California , mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it" , religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist , established = , accreditation = WSCUC , type = Private research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $8.1 ...

(USC). Hurt, self-described as "scooter trash" in his youth, began riding on a Cushman scooter. He also owned and rode dozens of street and dirt motorcycles, including a 1947

Harley-Davidson Harley-Davidson, Inc. (H-D, or simply Harley) is an American motorcycle manufacturer headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1903, it is one of two major American motorcycle manufacturers to survive the Great Depressi ...

, 61 Knucklehead, a 1968

Triumph Bonneville The Triumph Bonneville is a Types of motorcycles#Standard, standard motorcycle featuring a Straight-twin engine, parallel-twin four-stroke engine and manufactured in three generations over three separate production runs. The first two generation ...

, a 1975

Norton Commando The Norton Commando is a British Norton-Villiers motorcycle with an OHV pre-unit parallel-twin engine, produced by the Norton Motorcycle company from 1967 until 1977. Initially having a nominal ''750 cc'' displacement, actually , in 19 ...

, and a 1979 Triumph Bonneville.

Hurt Report

After receiving his Master's at USC, Hurt remained there as a professor. In 1976–1977, Hurt and his team at USC performed 900 on-scene, in-depth motorcycle crash investigations and compiled data from 3,600 police reports. Investigators later returned to the scene of several hundred crashes they had previously investigated and tallied passing traffic, photographed 2,310 passing motorcycles, and interviewed 505 riders. This database of riders exposed to accident risks, similar to the previous accidents, allowed a comparison of riders in crashes to those not involved in a crash. This large data collection effort led to the

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA ) is an agency of the U.S. federal government, part of the Department of Transportation. It describes its mission as "Save lives, prevent injuries, reduce vehicle-related crashes" rel ...

's 1981

, leading to evidence of the usefulness of motorcycle helmets. The Hurt Report was described by

David L. Hough David L. Hough (born 1937) is an American writer on motorcycle rider safety, education and training. He has been a columnist for Motorcycle Consumer News, Sound RIDER! and BMW Owners News magazines. After his first book ''Proficient Motorcycl ...

as "the most comprehensive motorcycle safety study of the 20th century." In 2006, reflecting on the report, Hurt stated, "The current problem is older riders, bigger bikes and alcohol."

Late life

Hurt remained at USC, researching and presiding over the nonprofit Head Protection Research Laboratory (HPRL), as well as a Professor Emeritus of Safety Science at USC. Upon his retirement from USC in 1998, HPRL was spun off as an independent non-profit corporation with Hurt as its president. Hurt died of a heart attack at Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center on November 29, 2009, at the age of 81.

Awards

Society of Automotive Engineers SAE International, formerly named the Society of Automotive Engineers, is a United States-based, globally active professional association and standards developing organization for engineering professionals in various industries. SAE Internatio ...

, Outstanding Presentation Award, 1977, for "Human Factors in Motorcycle Accidents" * Motorcycle Industry Council, Key Award, 1989 * ''Motorcyclist'' magazine, Motorcyclist of the Decade, 1989 * National Association of State Motorcycle Safety Administrators, Chairpersons Award, 1997 *

Motorcycle Hall of Fame The AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame Museum is an offshoot of the American Motorcyclist Association, recognizing individuals who have contributed to motorcycle sport, motorcycle construction, or motorcycling in general. It also displays motorcycle ...

, 2007

Works

* *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hurt, Hugh H. 1927 births 2009 deaths Texas A&M University alumni USC Viterbi School of Engineering alumni People from Big Spring, Texas