Motorcycle accident–related fatalities account for 1 in every 8 deaths on the road. And a new study suggests that blacks are at higher risk than whites: for every two white motorcyclists who die in accidents, three of their African-American counterparts do not survive.

Johns Hopkins researchers analyzed 68,840 motorcycle accidents recorded by the National Trauma Data Bank between 2002 and 2006. The data show that black riders were 50% more likely to die than white riders, despite the fact that African Americans were more likely to be wearing helmets at the time of the crash. The disparity held up even after controlling for the severity of the accident, the biker’s gender and insurance status. White bikers not wearing helmets were still less likely to die in a crash than black bikers wearing helmets; the highest risk group were blacks riding without protective head gear. (More on Time.com: How Kids Get Clobbered by Racial Discrimination) Read more at healthland.time.com

AUSTIN – The number of fatal motorcycle accidents in Texas took a sharp turn downward in 2009, after nearly a decade of increases. Last year, the rate of motorcycle deaths decreased by 18 percent in Texas, to 426, the state Department of Transportation said. It was a surprising reversal: From 2000 to 2008, such deaths increased 31 percent, even though motorcycle registrations were up just 13 percent, said Bernie Fette, research specialist at the Texas Transportation Institute at Texas A&M University. Read more at www.dallasnews.com

The Road Popper is a bike-mounted bottle opener that we developed for our own use and decided afterward to share. We designed it to fasten discreetly to the rails on the underside of the saddle to help keep your bike looking crisp. So far, it’s worked on all the bottle caps we’ve tried it on. Material options are bronze infused stainless steel. Finish options are plain (on the right in the photograph), matte gold, glossy gold, matte antique bronze, and glossy antique bronze. The Road Popper is not intended for alcoholic beverages. Chromoly does not condone cycling while under the influence of alcohol. Read more at www.shapeways.com