The US Department of Transportation recently released an analysis of its latest batch of motorcycle fatality and injury data, and there's a lot to take in. There are some things you'll probably expect (more or less), while other stats may surprise you. A few housekeeping notes before we dive in, though.
First of all, even though this data was released in 2025, it only covers the calendar year of 2023. Data analysis and reporting take time and are unfortunately not available in real time. Second of all, the geographic area covered by this reporting includes all 50 United States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.
Ready? Let's dive into these stats, shall we?
The headline is that slightly more motorcyclists died on US roads in 2023 than in 2022, but there were also slightly fewer injuries. In total, DOT stats from 2023 show that 6,335 motorcyclists were killed that year, which is an increase of 1 % over the 6,251 killed in 2022. However, motorcycle injuries on American roads were down by just under 1 %, going from 82,690 in 2022 to 82,564 in 2023.
How did motorcycle fatalities compare with other types of vehicular fatalities? Assuming a baseline of 100 million miles traveled, the motorcycle fatality rate in 2023 was 31.39%, as compared to just 1.13% for passenger cars.
It's not just you; unexpected left turns can seriously be deadly for motorcyclists.
I've talked about this before, but I always like it when I can find good, solid data to answer questions I have. According to this report, a whopping 46 % of motorcycle fatalities that involved two vehicles occurred because a given vehicle decided to turn left while a motorcycle was going straight.
46%. It's not quite 50%, but that's still a pretty ginormous number, especially when you think about individual lives impacted (and the rider's loved ones, too). In 2023, the DOT reports that 3,419 fatal crashes involving a motorcycle and another vehicle occurred.
Doing a little simple math, that's 1,573 motorcyclists who were killed by left turns on US roads in 2023.
In an additional 709 fatal crashes between a motorcycle and another vehicle, both vehicles were going straight. Now, it's not clear from the report whether this means these were all head-on collisions, or whether it was a right-of-way issue and each vehicle was proceeding straight ahead perpendicularly at an intersection, but still.
Finally, regarding two-vehicle crashes, 79% of motorcycle fatalities involved frontal impacts, while just 6% involved rear impacts. There's no mention made of side impacts, which makes me question the reporting a bit, as it seems pretty unlikely that there were zero side impacts in any circumstance.
Who died, statistically speaking?
Unfortunately, alcohol played a role in many motorcycle fatalities reported in 2023. In fact, 26% of riders who died were alcohol-impaired (had a BAC of 0.08 g/DL or more). In numerical terms, this represented 1,584 of the motorcycle fatalities recorded. A further 7% (or 401 riders) were recorded with BACs of between 0.01 and 0.07 g/dL; not enough to register as legally impaired, but still with some alcohol in their systems.
How does this compare to other drivers? It's actually closer than you might suspect, as 24% of car driver fatalities in 2023 were considered legally alcohol impaired by measurable BAC. Statistically, the motorcycle fatalities with alcohol impairment most likely occurred in riders aged 35 to 39 and 45 to 54.
What about single-vehicle crashes?
Alcohol plays a role here, too, which you probably expected. Of the 2,171 motorcycle fatalities resulting from single-vehicle crashes that were recorded in 2023, a full 41% featured riders who were legally alcohol-impaired. If there's any good news here, it's that the overall number went down slightly from 2022 to 2023, as 2,267 single-vehicle motorcycle fatalities were recorded in 2022.
Where are motorcycle helmets in the crash fatality data?
In 2023, the DOT reports that 73.8% of motorcyclists were riding with DOT-compliant helmets. However, the report also correlates alcohol impairment with a lower tendency to wear a helmet, and states that only 55% of alcohol-impaired riders killed wore helmets, as compared to 70% of those killed who did not have alcohol in their bloodstreams.
Unsurprisingly, in states with either partial or no helmet laws, larger percentages of motorcycle fatalities were recorded by the DOT with riders who weren't wearing helmets. As I've noted before, I live in Illinois. While I may personally be ATGATT to the point where I won't ride to the gas station without a helmet, there are plenty of riders whom I see when I'm out that make different choices.
In 2023, the US DOT recorded a total of 60% of Illinois motorcycle fatalities as not having worn helmets at the time of their crashes. Next door in Indiana, it's even higher; 70% of riders killed there in 2023 weren't wearing helmets.
Approximately 35% of motorcyclists who died in 2023 weren't wearing helmets. But that also means that the other 65% were. A good-quality motorcycle helmet may have been scientifically shown to help lessen or prevent certain head injuries, but statistically speaking, they aren't the golden ticket to cheating death. There is no such magic potion, talisman, or other item that will prevent all motorcycle deaths ever.
It is, after all, a motorcycle; we know there are risks, which we accept every time we ride.
What are some of the other conditions under which motorcycle fatalities occurred?
In 2023, 65% of reported fatalities occurred in urban settings, while 35% occurred in rural settings.
Probably the single most surprising statistic (to me, at least) in this dataset was where motorcyclists were located when the fatalities occurred. According to the DOT, 63% of these crashes did not occur at intersections. By contrast, only 37 % occurred at intersections. If you've ever taken a motorcycle safety course, you'll probably be surprised by this data, too, since we're usually told that intersections are the most dangerous places for us to be (and logically, you'd also expect that to be the case, as well).
What about weather and lighting conditions? Around 97% of fatalities were recorded in clear or cloudy conditions, with 2% in rain, and Other (snow? ice? unclear) accounting for the other 1%. As for lighting, 56% of fatal crashes occurred in broad daylight, while 39% occurred after dark. Additionally, 4% occurred at dusk, and another 1% at dawn.
