Motorcycle Accident Statistics: Latest US Safety Data

May 28, 2026August 4, 2026 Beris Johnson 181 Views 10 min read

A total of 6,228 motorcyclists died in US crashes in 2024, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's analysis of federal Fatality Analysis Reporting System data — down slightly from 6,366 in 2023, but 23% higher than in 2019. Motorcyclist deaths made up 16% of all motor vehicle crash deaths in 2024.

This page pulls together the two federal-data sources most often cited on motorcycle risk: the IIHS Fatality Facts page for motorcycles and ATVs (2024 data year) and NHTSA's Traffic Safety Facts: Motorcycles publication 813466 (2021 data year). Every figure below is labelled with its data year, because motorcycle crash numbers move year to year and mixing years produces comparisons that look dramatic but mean nothing.

Published by the Motorcycle Sport Club editorial team. Last reviewed 4 August 2026. Current data years: IIHS 2024, NHTSA 2021.

The headline numbers (2024 data year, IIHS)

The IIHS Fatality Facts page, based on FARS data, gives the most current national picture:

6,228 motorcyclists died in 2024, down from 6,366 in 2023, but 23% above 2019.
Deaths are up 23% since 2019. A single-year dip does not undo a five-year climb.
Motorcyclists were 16% of all motor vehicle crash deaths in 2024.
35% of motorcyclist deaths in 2024 were in single-vehicle crashes; the remaining 65% were in multiple-vehicle crashes.
26% of fatally injured motorcycle drivers in 2024 had a blood alcohol concentration at or above 0.08%.
66% of fatally injured motorcycle drivers were wearing helmets in 2024, and 47% of fatally injured passengers were.
36% of fatally injured motorcycle drivers in 2024 were unlicensed, versus 17% of passenger vehicle drivers.
31% of fatally injured riders in 2024 were 50 or older, and 33% were under 30.

That last pair is the one most riders get wrong. Motorcycle fatalities are not concentrated in one age group — roughly a third of the deaths sit at each end of the age range, which means the "young squid on a sportbike" mental model describes only part of the problem.

Helmet laws and helmet use (2024 data year, IIHS)

The clearest state-level signal in the 2024 data is the gap produced by helmet laws. In states with all-rider helmet laws, 89% of fatally injured motorcyclists were helmeted in 2024. In states with no helmet law, that figure was 40%.

What is confirmed: helmet use among people who died is dramatically higher where the law requires it. What is interpretation: the most reasonable reading is that universal helmet laws raise helmet use across the whole riding population, and that effect shows up in the fatality data. What the figures above cannot tell you on their own is how many deaths a given state's law prevented — that requires effectiveness studies rather than a count of who was wearing what when they died.

One implication worth stating plainly: two-thirds of fatally injured motorcycle drivers in 2024 were wearing helmets. A helmet is the single highest-value piece of equipment a rider owns, and it is not a force field. Our helmet coverage explains fit and certification, but no helmet substitutes for the crash you avoid entirely.

Mechanism and detail (2021 data year, NHTSA)

NHTSA's Traffic Safety Facts publication 813466 covers the 2021 data year in far more depth than any single-year headline. These numbers are older than the IIHS figures above and should never be compared directly against them — a 2021 count set beside a 2024 count is not a trend.

Fatalities and injuries. 5,932 motorcyclists were killed in 2021, up 8% from 5,506 in 2020 and the highest annual total since FARS began collecting data in 1975. An estimated 82,686 motorcyclists were injured in 2021, up 5% from 78,944 in 2020.

Exposure-adjusted risk. Per 100 million vehicle miles travelled in 2021, the motorcyclist fatality rate was 30.20 — almost 24 times the passenger car occupant rate of 1.26. This is the statistic that captures what riders are actually buying into. It is not that motorcyclists are worse road users; it is that a motorcycle offers no crumple zone, no airbag, and no seatbelt, so the same collision energy lands on a body instead of a structure.

Alcohol. Of the 5,636 motorcycle riders killed in 2021, 1,624 — 29% — were alcohol-impaired at a BAC of .08 g/dL or higher. Another 402 riders (7%) had BACs between .01 and .07. Among riders involved in fatal crashes in 2021, motorcycles had the highest alcohol impairment of any vehicle type: 28%, against 24% for passenger cars, 20% for light trucks, and 3% for large trucks.

Crash type and alcohol together. In 2021, 2,170 riders died in single-vehicle crashes and 3,466 died in multiple-vehicle crashes. The split by impairment is where it gets pointed: 43% of the single-vehicle deaths in 2021 were alcohol-impaired, versus 20% of the multiple-vehicle deaths. Single-vehicle motorcycle fatalities are disproportionately a drinking problem.

Licensing. 36% of motorcycle riders involved in fatal crashes in 2021 had no valid motorcycle license.

Comparing the two sources without mixing them

Read each list on its own. The two sources define their denominators differently — "fatally injured motorcycle drivers" is not the same population as "motorcycle riders involved in fatal crashes" — so any apparent similarity or difference between the two sets is partly definitional and is not a measure of change over time. That includes the unlicensed share, which reads as 36% in both sets while describing two different populations in two different years.

IIHS, 2024 data year

Motorcyclist deaths, 2024: 6,228
Single-vehicle deaths, 2024: 35% of motorcyclist deaths
Multiple-vehicle deaths, 2024: 65% of motorcyclist deaths
Alcohol (BAC ≥ 0.08%), 2024: 26% of fatally injured motorcycle drivers
No valid motorcycle license, 2024: 36% of fatally injured motorcycle drivers
Injuries, 2024: not reported here
Fatality rate per 100 million vehicle miles travelled, 2024: not reported here

NHTSA 813466, 2021 data year

Motorcyclist deaths, 2021: 5,932
Single-vehicle deaths, 2021: 2,170 riders
Multiple-vehicle deaths, 2021: 3,466 riders
Alcohol (BAC ≥ .08 g/dL), 2021: 29% of riders killed (1,624 of 5,636)
No valid motorcycle license, 2021: 36% of riders involved in fatal crashes
Injuries, 2021: 82,686 estimated
Fatality rate per 100 million vehicle miles travelled, 2021: 30.20, against 1.26 for passenger car occupants

What this means for riders

The numbers point at a short list of things that are decided before the engine starts.

Alcohol is the biggest single lever, and it acts hardest on solo crashes. In 2021, 43% of riders who died in single-vehicle crashes were alcohol-impaired, more than double the 20% share among multiple-vehicle deaths. The failure mode is not usually a car that pulled out — it is a rider running out of skill on a corner or a straight with alcohol in the system. Removing alcohol from the ride removes the risk factor most concentrated in crashes where nobody else was involved.

Most fatal motorcycle crashes still involve another vehicle. 65% of 2024 motorcyclist deaths were in multiple-vehicle crashes. That is the argument for conspicuity and lane positioning as everyday habits rather than optional extras: a large majority of the fatal outcomes involve a second road user who needed to see you and did not, or did and misjudged.

Licensing is a proxy for training, and the gap is not small. 36% of fatally injured motorcycle drivers in 2024 were unlicensed, against 17% of passenger vehicle drivers. Endorsement alone does not make anyone safe, but the licensing process is where most riders encounter formal instruction at all, and more than a third of the riders dying had skipped it.

Your age group does not exempt you. In 2024, 31% of fatally injured riders were 50 or older and 33% were under 30. Returning riders coming back to a modern bike after a decade away are inside this data, not outside it.

The per-mile number should shape how you ride, not whether you ride. A 2021 motorcyclist fatality rate of 30.20 per 100 million vehicle miles travelled against 1.26 for passenger car occupants — almost 24 times higher — means every mile carries less margin. Practically: mistakes that are recoverable in a car are not on a bike, so the useful adjustment is fewer miles ridden tired, in poor visibility, or on unfamiliar roads at unfamiliar speeds — and more attention to the gear that determines what happens after contact. If you want the injury side of that equation, our guide to treating road rash covers what riders actually deal with in survivable crashes.

Pre-ride risk checklist drawn from the data

Each item below maps to a factor that appears in the figures above, not to general advice:

Zero alcohol before riding. Targets the 43% impaired share of 2021 single-vehicle deaths.
Helmet on, every ride, correctly fastened. 40% helmet use among fatally injured riders in no-law states (2024) shows how many riders opt out where they can.
Valid motorcycle endorsement and refresher training. Targets the 36% unlicensed share of fatally injured motorcycle drivers in 2024.
Assume you are unseen at every intersection and lane change. Targets the 65% of 2024 deaths in multiple-vehicle crashes.
Match the ride to current skill, not past skill. Targets the age spread — 31% of 2024 fatalities were 50 or older.

What the data does not tell you

Honest limits matter on a page like this:

Neither source establishes cause for an individual crash. FARS records what was present — alcohol, helmet status, licensing — not what caused the outcome. A rider being unlicensed does not mean lack of a licence caused the crash.
The 2024 dip is one year. Deaths fell from 6,366 in 2023 to 6,228 in 2024, but the 23%-since-2019 increase is the stronger signal. Whether 2024 is a turning point or noise is not yet knowable.
Injury totals lag and are estimates. The 82,686 injured figure for 2021 is an estimate, and no comparable injury figure is quoted here for 2024.
Exposure data is imperfect. Per-mile rates depend on estimates of how far motorcycles are ridden, which are less precise than car mileage estimates. The 24-to-1 ratio for 2021 is directionally solid; the exact multiplier is not a precision instrument.
Matching percentages across the two sources are not corroboration. The 36% unlicensed share appears in both sets, but IIHS counts fatally injured motorcycle drivers in 2024 and NHTSA counts riders involved in fatal crashes in 2021. Different populations, different years, no shared meaning in the match.

What to watch next

The most informative thing to track is whether the 2024 decline continues into the 2025 data year when IIHS and NHTSA publish it. Two consecutive declines would be the first real evidence that the post-2019 climb has broken. Also worth watching: any state that adopts or repeals an all-rider helmet law, since the 89%-versus-40% helmet-use gap in the 2024 data makes those changes measurable in subsequent years. More motorcycle safety coverage is collected here.

FAQ

How many motorcyclists died in the US most recently? 6,228 in 2024, according to IIHS analysis of FARS data. The 2023 figure was 6,366.

Are motorcycle deaths rising or falling? Both, depending on the window. Deaths fell from 2023 to 2024, but they are 23% higher than in 2019.

How much more dangerous is a motorcycle than a car per mile? In 2021, NHTSA put the motorcyclist fatality rate at 30.20 per 100 million vehicle miles travelled against 1.26 for passenger car occupants — almost 24 times higher.

Do most fatal motorcycle crashes involve another vehicle? Yes. 65% of motorcyclist deaths in 2024 were in multiple-vehicle crashes; 35% were single-vehicle.

What share of riders killed had been drinking? Of 5,636 motorcycle riders killed in 2021, 29% were alcohol-impaired at BAC .08 or higher, and a further 7% had BACs of .01 to .07. In the 2024 IIHS data, 26% of fatally injured motorcycle drivers were at or above 0.08%.

Does a helmet law change helmet use among riders who die? In 2024, 89% of fatally injured motorcyclists in all-rider helmet law states were helmeted, compared with 40% in states with no helmet law.

Sources

Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, Fatality Facts: Motorcycles and ATVs (2024 data year) — https://www.iihs.org/research-areas/fatality-statistics/detail/motorcycles-and-atvs
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Traffic Safety Facts: Motorcycles, publication 813466 (2021 data year) — https://crashstats.nhtsa.dot.gov/Api/Public/ViewPublication/813466

Published by the Motorcycle Sport Club editorial team.