RELATIVELY SPEAKING, MOTORCYCLE DEATHS ARE VERY HIGH

When looking at the raw stats, it appears that motorcycle deaths make up just a small portion of all traffic deaths—just 14 percent. That leaves another 86 percent to be divided among categories like drivers, passengers and pedestrians.

However, the key thing to remember is that there are far fewer motorcycles on the road, so the total percentage is naturally going to be smaller. When you factor this in, it becomes apparent that motorcycle accident death rates are actually quite high.

On the whole, motorcycles accounted for less than a single percent of all of the total vehicle miles traveled in the United States.

This statistic is actually more important than looking at the amount of motorcycles and contrasting it with the amount of cars. Many people who own motorcycles do not use them very frequently. They don’t use them as daily drivers and they park them in the garage for the winter, for example.

Because of this, the amount of vehicle miles traveled gives a more accurate picture of how common motorcycles are. If they led to just as many deaths as other vehicles, they’d also come in with less than one percent of the total deaths. The fact that they come in at 14 percent shows a stark difference between the two.

The statistics used to reach these numbers came from studies of accident death rates between 2008 and 2010, as gathered for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

If you have lost a loved one in a motorcycle accident in Pennsylvania, make sure you know what rights you may have to compensation.

Source: CDC, “Helmet Use Among Motorcyclists Who Died in Crashes and Economic Cost Savings Associated With State Motorcycle Helmet Laws,” accessed Feb. 25, 2016