If you’re getting into riding a motorcycle and hoping to get out on the roads this summer, it is important to step back and think about the risk. Motorcycles can be very fun; they can give you a new means of transportation, and the entire motorcycle culture may be alluring to you. But is that worth the risk?
Consider this: When you look at how many miles motorcyclists cover every year and how many people pass away, and you then compare that to how many miles people cover in cars and how many people lose their lives in accidents, what you’ll find is that the risk of death for motorcyclists is 27 times higher than the risk faced by someone in a passenger car.
Maybe you’ve heard someone say that motorcycles aren’t that risky because far more people die in cars. From an overall perspective, that’s true. Vastly more lives are lost in passenger cars. However, looking at the miles traveled shows that the reason motorcycle fatalities see such smaller numbers is that fewer people ride. If it was a 50-50 split, the deaths on motorcycles would dwarf those in cars. It becomes clear when you break the statistics down in this new way and see the real risks that riders face.
What you must remember is that you cannot control other drivers. Even if you’re a safe motorcyclist, you still face these high risks because other drivers can make mistakes and cause deadly accidents. If that happens, the odds that you’ll be the one with catastrophic injuries is just much higher. That’s why it’s important for you and your family to know all of the legal options you have after a crash.