How likely is a motorcyclist to be killed or hurt on US roads in a year, how does that risk compare with riding in a passenger car, mile for mile, and what can anyone say about the risk of riding a horse? In 2024, 6,228 motorcyclists were killed on US roads, about 1 death for every 1,487 registered motorcycles (our arithmetic).
Most people picture a highway crash when they think about the risk of riding a motorcycle, and few picture a fall from a horse. The national numbers for motorcycles are detailed and current. The numbers for horses are much harder to pin down.
Motorcycle deaths and injuries in 2024
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration counts riders and passengers together as motorcyclists. In 2024, 6,228 motorcyclists were killed in traffic crashes, down 2.2 percent from 6,366 in 2023, and they made up 16 percent of all traffic deaths in the country. An estimated 86,887 motorcyclists were injured, up 5.2 percent from 82,567 in 2023.
Against the 9,261,249 motorcycles registered that year, NHTSA puts the death rate at 67.25 per 100,000 registered motorcycles, about 1 in 1,487, and the injury rate at 938 per 100,000, about 1 in 107 (our arithmetic). These rates are per registered motorcycle, not per rider.
Mile for mile
Measured by distance, the gap with cars is wide. NHTSA reports that per 100 million vehicle miles traveled in 2024, “the fatality rate for motorcyclists (28.00) was almost 27 times the passenger car occupant fatality rate (1.05)”. The injury rate per 100 million vehicle miles was 391 for motorcyclists and 86 for passenger car occupants.
| 2024 | Deaths | Injuries |
|---|---|---|
| Motorcyclists | 6,228 | 86,887 |
| Rate per 100,000 registered motorcycles | 67.25 (about 1 in 1,487) | 938 (about 1 in 107) |
| Rate per 100 million vehicle miles, motorcyclists | 28.00 | 391 |
| Rate per 100 million vehicle miles, passenger car occupants | 1.05 | 86 |
The rates are NHTSA’s. The “about 1 in” odds divide 100,000 by NHTSA’s rate per registered motorcycle (our arithmetic).
Helmets
Of the 6,228 motorcyclists killed in 2024, 34 percent were not wearing a helmet, based on known helmet use. The share was 48 percent in states without a universal helmet law and 11 percent in states with one. In 2023, the latest year NHTSA has, 73.8 percent of motorcyclists on the road wore a helmet that meets the federal standard.
Helmets have a long history in this story. The neurosurgeon Hugh Cairns was one of the doctors who attended T.E. Lawrence after his fatal motorcycle accident in May 1935. At the start of the Second World War, Cairns drew attention to deaths from head injuries among army motorcycle dispatch riders, and his research concluded that crash helmets would save many lives.
And horses?
There is no federal count for horseback riding that matches NHTSA’s motorcycle figures. A horse can buck or bolt and throw its rider, and the US Consumer Product Safety Commission’s injury surveillance system, which samples hospital emergency departments, records emergency department visits linked to horseback riding under a code of their own. Those visits are a different measure from the crash injuries NHTSA counts, so the two cannot be turned into a single ratio.
Motorcycles are one part of a wider picture of road risk; our look at texting while driving covers another.
The short version
In 2024, 6,228 motorcyclists died on US roads, about 1 for every 1,487 registered motorcycles, and per mile traveled their death rate was almost 27 times that of passenger car occupants.
Last checked: 2026-10-23, against NHTSA’s Traffic Safety Facts, Motorcycles: 2024 Data (DOT HS 813 824, July 2026) and the CPSC’s NEISS coding manual. This article was machine-checked against the sources above and has not been expert-reviewed. Spotted an error or a newer public figure? Please tell us on our contact page with the article link and we will review it.
Sources
- S1 National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, National Center for Statistics and Analysis. Traffic Safety Facts: Motorcycles: 2024 Data. DOT HS 813 824. July 2026. https://crashstats.nhtsa.dot.gov/Api/Public/ViewPublication/813824 Accessed Oct 23, 2026.
- S2 Maartens NF, Wills AD, Adams CB. Lawrence of Arabia, Sir Hugh Cairns, and the origin of motorcycle helmets. Neurosurgery. 2002;50(1):176 to 179. doi:10.1097/00006123-200201000-00026. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11844248/ Accessed Oct 23, 2026.
- S3 US Consumer Product Safety Commission. NEISS Coding Manual, CPSC only, January 2025, product code 1239, Horseback riding (activity, apparel or equipment). https://www.cpsc.gov/s3fs-public/JANUARY-2025-NEISS-CPSC-only-Coding-Manual-Rev-1_0.pdf Accessed Oct 23, 2026.