What is Your Risk of a Motorcycle Crash?

Mississippi had the highest fatality rate among the motorcycle-riding population in the nation in 2017 with 40 motorcycle accident deaths. While that may not seem like much compared to the 490 deaths in Texas that same year, it is important to note that Texas has nearly 13x as many motorcyclists as Mississippi. For every 10,000 motorcyclists on the road, Mississippi had 14.22 deaths, compared to 13.44 deaths per 10,000 motorcycles in the Lone Star state.

Montana had 306,655 registered motorcycles in 2017, nearly 11x more than Mississippi, but far fewer deaths. Only 23 people died in motorcycle crashes in Montana that year, an average of 0.75 deaths per 10,000 motorcycles.

While motor vehicle deaths as a whole have been decreasing over the last two decades, motorcycle fatalities are only going up, and they’re representing a larger share of all road deaths. In 1996, 2,161 motorcyclists were killed in accidents in the U.S. By 2016, that number was 5,286, more than double.

In 2016, 22.6% of all road deaths in Nevada (more than one in every five) were motorcyclists, closely followed by 22.2% in Washington D.C., according to motorcycle death statistics collected by the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA).

However, in states with higher fatal crash rates for other vehicles types, motorcyclists aren’t necessarily safer. In Arkansas, motorcyclists represent only 7.1% of all road deaths, the smallest share of any state in the nation. However, Arkansas ranks 13th for most motorcycle deaths when judged by number of registered motorcyclists.