Motorcycle Safety Research and Data

Throttle Buff publishes original data studies on motorcycle safety, built from official government sources. Each one shows its full table, its method and its sources, and most break the figures down by US state or New Zealand region.

Journalists, councils, bloggers and rider-safety groups are welcome to use them: credit Throttle Buff with a link to the study. For questions about the data, email vipul@throttlebuff.com.

Motorcycle accident statistics (US)

6,228 motorcyclists were killed in traffic crashes in the U.S. in 2024, down 2.2% from 6,366 in 2023, and they made up 16% of all traffic deaths. Per registered vehicle, 67.25 motorcyclists died for every 100,000 motorcycles on the road.

Motorcycle deaths and helmet laws by state

In 2024, 6,228 motorcyclists died on U.S. roads, and 2,045 of them were not wearing a helmet. Where you ride makes a huge difference: in states that require every rider to wear a helmet, only 11% of riders killed (where helmet use was known) were unhelmeted.

Drunk riding deaths by state

In 2024, 1,529 of the 5,950 motorcycle riders killed on U.S. roads were alcohol-impaired, with a blood alcohol concentration of .08 g/dL or higher. That’s 26%, about one in four.

Motorcycle helmet laws by state

17 states and Washington, D.C. require every motorcycle rider to wear a helmet. 30 states only require helmets for younger riders, usually those under 18 or 21, and Illinois, Iowa and New Hampshire have no helmet law at all.

  • Source: IIHS helmet laws table (November 2026) and NHTSA 2024 data
  • Updated 3 November 2026
  • Sources and method

New Zealand motorcycle crash statistics by region

In 2024, 55 people motorcycling were killed on New Zealand roads and 527 were seriously injured, according to the Ministry of Transport.

Using our data

  • Studies with a “Use this data” section share their data under CC BY 4.0. Use it freely with a credit link to the study.
  • Each of those sections also has the embed code for the study’s infographic.
  • Every figure is taken from the official source named in the study, and each study links to that source.
  • Spot an error? Email vipul@throttlebuff.com.

Looking for gear help instead? Our free rider tools include a helmet size calculator and a state helmet-law lookup.