How Many Motorcyclists Die on US Roads Each Year?

Quick answer: 6,228 motorcyclists were killed on US roads in 2024 — 16% of all traffic fatalities — according to NHTSA's Traffic Safety Facts, Motorcycles: 2024 Data. That was a 2.2% fall from 6,366 in 2023. An estimated 86,887 motorcyclists were injured, up 5.2% on 2023. Per mile ridden, motorcyclists died at almost 27 times the rate of car occupants.

The headline numbers for 2024

The figures come from NHTSA's Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) — the census of every fatal motor-vehicle crash on US public roads — published as Traffic Safety Facts report DOT HS 813 824:

• 6,228 motorcyclists killed — 16% of all US traffic deaths, and 20% of all motor-vehicle occupant deaths
• Down 2.2% from 6,366 killed in 2023
• 86,887 motorcyclists injured (estimated) — up 5.2% from 82,567 in 2023
• 96% of those killed were riders (5,950); 4% were passengers (278)

The decade's trend is a slow rise with a small correction: 5,029 killed in 2015, climbing to 6,366 in 2023, then easing to 6,228 in 2024. Injuries moved the other way last year — fewer deaths, more injured riders. For how the US toll breaks down by state, see the US road deaths page.

The risk gap: 27 times the car rate

Counts show the scale; rates show the risk. Motorcycles made up just 3% of all registered vehicles in 2024 and only 0.7% of all vehicle miles travelled — yet accounted for 16% of the dead. Per 100 million miles travelled in 2024:

• Motorcyclists: 28.00 deaths per 100 million vehicle miles
• Passenger car occupants: 1.05 per 100 million vehicle miles
• Light-truck occupants: 0.63 per 100 million vehicle miles

That makes the motorcyclist fatality rate almost 27 times the car-occupant rate, and over 44 times the light-truck rate. Per 100,000 registered vehicles the gap is narrower but still stark: 67.25 for motorcyclists against 10.81 for car occupants. The injury gap is smaller but real — motorcyclists were injured at nearly 5 times the car-occupant rate per mile ridden (391 against 86).

The comparison across the Atlantic is worth making: British motorcyclists face the same outsized risk, accounting for a quarter of GB road deaths from about 1% of traffic.

Helmets: where the law differs

NHTSA's data give one of the clearest before-and-after comparisons in road safety — because helmet laws vary by state:

• In states without universal helmet laws, 48% of motorcyclists killed in 2024 were not wearing helmets (where helmet use was known)
• In states with universal helmet laws, only 11% of motorcyclists killed were not wearing helmets

The law changes behaviour, and behaviour changes outcomes. NHTSA also notes that 35% of motorcycle riders in fatal crashes in 2024 had no valid motorcycle licence — more than a third of the riders who died had never been licensed to ride.

Alcohol, darkness and the night

The 2024 fact sheet splits the toll by the two factors that most often overlap — drink and darkness:

• 25% of motorcycle riders in fatal crashes were alcohol-impaired, more than drivers of any other motor-vehicle type (light-truck drivers were 19%, large-truck drivers 4%)
• 40% of riders who died in single-vehicle crashes were alcohol-impaired — the loneliest and most preventable category
• Riders killed at night were 2.6 times more frequently alcohol-impaired than those killed during the day: 37% against 14%

Darkness concentrates the risk in other ways too. Just over half of rider deaths happened in daylight (56%), but 38% happened in the dark — and the night hours carry the drink-driving share with them. With US clocks going back on 1 November 2026, the evening commute moves into darkness for the whole country, and the pattern of the year's darker months begins. Read the full picture of night driving in the US, where more than half of all road deaths happen after dark.

Where and when the fatal crashes happen

Of the 6,228 deaths, the crash characteristics show where attention pays off most:

• 66% happened in urban areas, 34% in rural areas
• 62% happened away from intersections, 38% at intersections
• 91% happened on non-interstate roads — only 9% on interstates
• 24% of motorcycles in fatal crashes collided with fixed objects, against 16% for passenger cars — riders hit trees, poles and barriers far more often
• In two-vehicle crashes, 78% of the motorcycles were struck on the front; in 45% of two-vehicle fatal crashes the other vehicle was turning left while the motorcycle went straight

The left-turn pattern is the one drivers can act on: a car turning across a motorcycle's path is the single most common two-vehicle fatal configuration. Look twice at junctions and when turning across traffic.

How these numbers were counted

These figures come from NHTSA's Traffic Safety Facts: Motorcycles, 2024 Data (DOT HS 813 824, published July 2026), built on the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) — the census of every fatal motor-vehicle traffic crash on US public roads — and the Crash Report Sampling System (CRSS) for injury estimates. Fatalities are actual counts; injury figures are estimates. Motorcycles include 2- and 3-wheeled motorcycles, mopeds, scooters, minibikes and pocket bikes. A death counts if it occurs within 30 days of the crash. Starting in 2022, motorized bicycles are no longer counted as motor vehicles, and 2020-and-later vehicle classifications are not fully comparable with 2019 and earlier. Injury estimates from before 2016 use an older sample design and are not directly comparable with later years. These are the Annual Report File figures, which NHTSA may revise in the final file.