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by Retric 4498 days 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/

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.

2 comments

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.

"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."