What Are the Latest Motorcycle Accident Statistics in the USA?

Motorcyclists make up a small share of vehicles on U.S. roads but a large share of traffic deaths. This page summarizes the most recent official federal data on motorcyclist fatalities, injuries, fatality rates, helmet use, alcohol impairment, speeding, crash types, rider age, and state totals. Each figure is labeled with its reporting year and source, and preliminary estimates are clearly separated from finalized counts so readers can see exactly what is known for 2024, 2025, and 2026.

What Are the Key Motorcycle Accident Statistics at a Glance?

2024 figures come from the FARS 2024 Annual Report File, which NHTSA may revise when the 2024 Final File is released.

Motorcycle Accident Statistics in 2025 and 2026: What Is Officially Available?

The data year and the publication year are different. NHTSA's complete 2024 motorcycle fact sheet was published in July 2026. NHTSA has said the FARS 2024 Final File and the 2025 Annual Report File are expected in early 2027. Until then, the 2025 figure is a projection built by scaling partially coded FARS cases to early estimated totals, and it may change.

How Many Motorcyclists Are Killed and Injured in the United States?

NHTSA defines the rider as the operator, the passenger as a person seated on but not operating the motorcycle, and "motorcyclist" as either. Motorcycles include two- and three-wheeled motorcycles, off-road motorcycles, mopeds, scooters, and minibikes. A fatality counts in FARS if the person died within 30 days of a crash on a public trafficway.

A motorcyclist fatality count is not the number of fatal motorcycle crashes. One crash can kill both a rider and a passenger, and fatal crashes can also kill people outside the motorcycle. Injury totals are sample-based estimates of police-reported crashes, so unreported crashes are not captured.

How Have Motorcycle Accident Fatalities Changed Over Time?

Motorcyclist deaths rose 10.8% from 2020 to 2024 and peaked at 6,366 in 2023, the highest count since federal record-keeping began in 1975. The 2024 count fell slightly, and NHTSA's 2025 projection suggests a further decline, though that figure is preliminary. Two comparability notes matter: NHTSA's vehicle classification changed in 2020, so 2019 and earlier counts are not directly comparable, and motorized bicycles were removed from motorcycle counts starting in 2022. These figures describe what happened; they do not by themselves explain why.

How Do Motorcycle Fatality Rates Compare With Passenger Cars?

Source: NHTSA, Traffic Safety Facts: Motorcycles: 2024 Data (DOT HS 813 824), July 2026, using FHWA travel and registration data.

Exposure-adjusted rates matter because absolute deaths alone ignore how much people ride. Per mile traveled in 2024, motorcyclists died at almost 27 times the passenger car occupant rate and were injured at nearly 5 times the rate. A higher relative risk does not mean every motorcycle crash causes injury; it means that, mile for mile, crashes are far more likely to be severe for riders.

What Do Motorcycle Helmet Use and Fatality Statistics Show?

In 2024, 17 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico required helmets for all motorcyclists; 30 states covered only some riders, typically those under 18; and Illinois, Iowa, and New Hampshire had no helmet requirement. Observed 2023 helmet use was 82.7% in universal-law states versus 65.9% elsewhere. An earlier Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) analysis of 2008–2010 deaths found a similar pattern, and estimated that universal-law states saved roughly 3.7 times more in economic costs per registered motorcycle in 2010; those figures are older and are shown for context only. Comparisons between helmeted and unhelmeted riders should be read carefully, since crash speed, alcohol, and road type also differ. Helmets reduce risk but do not guarantee survival, and helmet nonuse does not automatically establish legal fault.

How Often Is Alcohol Involved in Fatal Motorcycle Crashes?

NHTSA treats a rider as alcohol-impaired at a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .08 g/dL or higher, and estimates BAC when test results are unknown. In 2024:

• 1,529 of 5,950 motorcycle riders killed (26%) were alcohol-impaired; another 472 (8%) had BACs of .01–.07.
• 25% of all riders in fatal crashes, killed or surviving, were alcohol-impaired, the same as passenger car drivers.
• 40% of riders killed in single-vehicle crashes were impaired, versus 18% in multivehicle crashes.
• Riders killed at night were impaired far more often than those killed during the day (37% versus 14%).

How Many Motorcycle Fatalities Are Speeding-Related?

NHTSA classifies a crash as speeding-related when the driver was charged with a speeding offense or police reported racing, driving too fast for conditions, or exceeding the limit. In 2024, 37% of motorcycle riders in fatal crashes were speeding (2,322 of 6,357), compared with 22% of passenger car drivers, 15% of light-truck drivers, and 8% of large-truck drivers. Riders aged 15–20 had the highest involvement at 56%. Speeding and alcohol are separate categories that can overlap in the same crash, so their counts should not be added together.

How Do Single-Vehicle and Multi-Vehicle Motorcycle Crashes Compare?

Source: NHTSA, Motorcycles: 2024 Data (DOT HS 813 824). Single- and multivehicle percentages calculated from NHTSA rider counts.

In two-vehicle fatal crashes, 78% of motorcycles were struck on the front and 6% on the rear. Crash configuration describes how collisions happened; it does not establish which party was at fault in any specific case.

Which Rider Age Groups Have the Most Motorcycle Accident Fatalities?

Source: NHTSA, FARS 2023 Final File and 2024 ARF, using NHTSA's age bands. Totals include unknown ages. Counts cover all motorcyclists killed.

Deaths among motorcyclists aged 15–20 rose 20% and among those 21–24 rose 15% from 2023 to 2024, while most groups aged 40–64 declined. The average age of riders killed in 2024 was 40. Age patterns reflect who rides and how much, so age alone does not explain crashes.

How Do Motorcycle Accident Statistics Compare by State?

These are absolute counts, which largely reflect population, riding seasons, and the number of registered motorcycles. They do not show which state is most dangerous for an individual rider; that would require state-level exposure measures from compatible years. At the other end of the 2024 table, Vermont (7), Rhode Island (8), and the District of Columbia (9) recorded the fewest deaths.

State agencies publish their own counts, which can differ slightly from FARS. The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) reported 585 motorcyclists killed in Texas in 2024, with 37% not wearing helmets, compared with 583 in NHTSA's FARS file. Differences usually reflect processing dates and definitions, so state and federal figures should not be mixed in the same comparison.

What Are the Most Common Injuries in Motorcycle Accidents?

Because riders lack an enclosed cabin, crash forces act directly on the body. Commonly reported motorcycle injuries include:

• Traumatic brain injuries, the injury helmets are designed to reduce.
• Spinal cord injuries, which can cause lasting loss of function.
• Fractures, often to the legs, arms, pelvis, and collarbone.
• Lower-extremity injuries from contact with the vehicle or roadway.
• Road rash and abrasions from sliding on pavement.
• Internal and soft-tissue injuries, which may not be immediately apparent.

Current national, motorcycle-specific injury-type frequencies are not published in NHTSA's annual fact sheet, so none are listed here. This overview is not medical advice, and a diagnosis alone does not prove legal damages.

Are Motorcycle Accident Statistics the Same as Motorcycle Injury Claims?

No. Crash statistics measure events, deaths, and injuries reported through police and federal systems. They do not show how many insurance claims or lawsuits were filed, how many cases settled, average settlement amounts, or whether anyone was negligent. A collision, an insurance claim, a civil lawsuit, and a court judgment are distinct stages, and most crashes never reach court. No official national dataset reports motorcycle accident settlement totals.

Where Do U.S. Motorcycle Accident Statistics Come From?

FARS counts every qualifying fatal crash, while CRSS injury figures are weighted estimates from a sample. Each FARS year is first released as an Annual Report File, then revised into a Final File; the 2023 motorcyclist count, for example, moved from 6,335 to 6,366. Early estimates are statistical projections. Crash, vehicle, and person counts are different units, and motorcycle definitions changed in 2020 and 2022. Rates per mile depend on FHWA travel estimates, which carry their own uncertainty. Registration totals also vary by table: FHWA's Highway Statistics 2024 table MV-1, which reflects state-supplied data without FHWA estimation, lists 4,740,927 motorcycles, while NHTSA's rate calculations use 9,261,249. This page uses NHTSA's figures so that all rates share one denominator.

Which Government Sources Are Cited on This Page?

• NHTSA, National Center for Statistics and Analysis. Traffic Safety Facts: Motorcycles: 2024 Data (DOT HS 813 824), July 2026. Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) 2024 Annual Report File and Crash Report Sampling System (CRSS) 2024.
• NHTSA. Overview of Motor Vehicle Traffic Crashes in 2024 (DOT HS 813 791), April 2026.
• NHTSA. Early Estimates of Motor Vehicle Traffic Fatalities and Fatality Rate by Sub-Categories in 2025 (DOT HS 813 829), July 2026; Early Estimate of Motor Vehicle Traffic Fatalities and Fatality Rate in 2025 (DOT HS 813 800), 2026; Early Estimate for the First Quarter of 2026 (DOT HS 813 833), July 2026.
• NHTSA. Motorcycle Helmet Use in 2023: Overall Results (DOT HS 813 634), September 2024; Calculating Lives Saved by Motorcycle Helmets (DOT HS 809 861), August 2005.
• Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). Highway Statistics 2024, Table MV-1: State Motor-Vehicle Registrations, January 2026.
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Helmet Use Among Motorcyclists Who Died in Crashes and Economic Cost Savings Associated With State Motorcycle Helmet Laws, United States, 2008–2010. MMWR Vol. 61, No. 23, June 15, 2012.
• Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT). Texas Motor Vehicle Traffic Crash Facts, Calendar Year 2024 (data as of April 9, 2025).

Sources last reviewed: October 27, 2026.

Frequently Asked Questions About Motorcycle Accident Statistics