Having looked last month at how the number of motorcycle accident fatalities in the UK had dropped significantly over the past two decades, it is interesting to contrast that with what is happening across the pond in the USA.
In the US, the number of bikers killed has been creeping upwards since 2009, peaking in 2023 (the latest figures), despite motorcycle traffic levels reducing. Even taking into account the US’s much larger population, the UK death rate in 2023 was 12.17 fatalities per 100 million miles ridden, whereas in the US it was 31.4!
Some of this huge disparity is due to differing laws over head protection – more than half of US states do not have universal helmet laws, the result of which sees riders without head protection account for more than 34% of motorcycle accident deaths.