Port Angeles – After three local motorcylists were injured and one killed in the past week, the Washington State Patrol is trying to put the breaks on a disturbing early-season trend.

Trooper Chelsea Hodgson says that while every driver on the road plays a part in motorcycle safety, these recent accidents have demonstrated the need for motorcyclists to slow down.

The Washington Traffic Safety Commission reports that motorcycles make up only four percent of vehicles on the road, but accounted for 17 percent of the fatalities and 18 percent of serious injury collisions between 2012 and 2014. Of those collisions, 75 percent were rider-caused.