From a peak of more than 73,000 in 1980, the decline in the number of reported motorcycle casualties closely matched the reduction in the number of motorcycles on the road until the early 1990s. This makes sense – fewer motorcycles in use equals fewer accidents and injuries.
However, this correlation ended sharply in 2001, when the number of accidents began to diverge dramatically from the number of licensed motorcycles. Despite the increasing number of PTWs as “born-again bikers” rediscovered the joy of two wheels, the casualty numbers fell away, eventually reaching a fairly steady level of around 18,000 per year, less than a quarter of those 40 years previously.