Here is some factual information about Motorcycle accidents:

  • According to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), in 2007, 5,154 people died in motorcycle crashes, the highest level since NHTSA began collecting data in 1975. The 2007 figure represents a 6.6 percent from 4,837 the previous year. 
  • Motorcycle crash fatalities have increased every year for the past 10 years. 
  • According to the latest data available from the Federal Highway Administration, there were 7.1 million motorcycles on U.S. roads in 2007, compared with 137.8 million passenger cars. Motorcycles accounted for nearly 3 percent of all registered motor vehicles and 0.4 percent of vehicle miles traveled in 2007, according to the NHTSA. 
  • Some 123,000 motorcycles were involved in crashes in 2007, including property damage-only crashes, according to latest data from the NHTSA. 
  • Motorcyclists were 35 times more likely than passenger car occupants to die in a crash per vehicle mile traveled in 2006 and eight times more likely to be injured, according to NHTSA. 
  • The fatality rate per registered vehicle for motorcyclists in 2007 was 6 times the fatality rate for passenger car occupants, according to NHTSA.