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If you own a motorcycle for 30 years, your chances are not the same every year - your chances of dying on a bike are higher when you're younger and when you hav

If you own a motorcycle for 30 years, your chances are not the same every year - your chances of dying on a bike are higher when you're younger and when you have less years on a bike. So every year I ride, my chance of dying that year on a bike gets smaller. In other words, the bulk of deaths on bikes are young, inexperienced, and/or unlicensed riders. Also, bike deaths are far more likely to involve alcohol than car deaths; so if you're like me and you don't drink before riding, you've just improved your chances.

Retric 13y ago
Not really, your odds do change as a non drinker but age is far less important than you might think. Your hypotetical driver that owns a motorcycle for 30 years is more likely to die over 25 than under it. http://www.cdc.gov/features/dsMotorcycleSafety/ http://www.cdc.gov/features/dsMotorcycleSafety/ A significant reason for this is your far less likely to survive an accident as an older rider than a young one. Note: The death rate statistics they quote include non motorcycle owners.
- rogerhoward 13y ago
  "Your hypotetical driver that owns a motorcycle for 30 years is more likely to die over 25 than under it." That's a very weird statistic. Sure, since those riders spend most of their 30 years riding time over 25yo. From your link: "The highest death and injury rates were among 20-24 year-olds, followed by 25-29 year-olds."
- rogerhoward 13y ago
  Also, one other note - I was talking about riding experience, not absolute age - something the CDC doesn't track, but other large studies I've seen do. There's a strong correlation between experience - whether gauged by years of riding or, even better, raw mileage. There's also a huge correlation between unlicensed riders and serious injuries. Motorcycle riders are far more likely to be unlicensed than car drivers - last I heard was something like 3-4 times as likely. Unlicensed motorcycle riders are over twice as likely to be in fatal accidents than licensed motorcycle riders. I ride 15,000-20,000 miles a year - I'm well trained, equipped, and experienced. A lot of bike owners ride weekends, occasional trips, etc. I actually don't ride much on the weekends - and when I do, I'm pretty shocked how bad (dangerous, rude, etc) the riders are compared to the commuters I mostly see.

Retric 13y ago

Not really, your odds do change as a non drinker but age is far less important than you might think. Your hypotetical driver that owns a motorcycle for 30 years is more likely to die over 25 than under it. http://www.cdc.gov/features/dsMotorcycleSafety/ http://www.cdc.gov/features/dsMotorcycleSafety/ A significant reason for this is your far less likely to survive an accident as an older rider than a young one. Note: The death rate statistics they quote include non motorcycle owners.

rogerhoward 13y ago
"Your hypotetical driver that owns a motorcycle for 30 years is more likely to die over 25 than under it." That's a very weird statistic. Sure, since those riders spend most of their 30 years riding time over 25yo. From your link: "The highest death and injury rates were among 20-24 year-olds, followed by 25-29 year-olds."
rogerhoward 13y ago
Also, one other note - I was talking about riding experience, not absolute age - something the CDC doesn't track, but other large studies I've seen do. There's a strong correlation between experience - whether gauged by years of riding or, even better, raw mileage. There's also a huge correlation between unlicensed riders and serious injuries. Motorcycle riders are far more likely to be unlicensed than car drivers - last I heard was something like 3-4 times as likely. Unlicensed motorcycle riders are over twice as likely to be in fatal accidents than licensed motorcycle riders. I ride 15,000-20,000 miles a year - I'm well trained, equipped, and experienced. A lot of bike owners ride weekends, occasional trips, etc. I actually don't ride much on the weekends - and when I do, I'm pretty shocked how bad (dangerous, rude, etc) the riders are compared to the commuters I mostly see.