Motorcycle Helmets Should Be Mandatory and ADAS Needs to Improve, IIHS Says

• Motorcycling is continuing to grow in popularity but the rate of accidents and fatalities is rising alongside, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety says.

• However, there are some common-sense safety measures that can protect riders, according to crash statistics.

• At a federal level, however, the IIHS says regulators and state lawmakers could do more to keep motorcyclists safe, from helmet laws to advanced driver-assistance technologies.

Back in 2021, around 6000 motorcyclists died on US roads, marking an all-time high for domestic two-wheeled travelers. That's a 21% increase since 2019 and triple the fatality rate compared to 1997, with motorcyclists accounting for 14% of all traffic fatalities in 2021.

With statistics like these, it can be hard for outsiders to understand why one would want to ride a motorcycle or how motorcyclists can stomach hitting the open road every day. But the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety says motorcyclists aren't taking risks just for the fun of it. Many are just looking for an economical means of transportation, ultimately.

"Motorcyclists are often labeled as risk-takers, so perhaps that's why our society continues to accept this loss of life. It's true that riding involves extra risk compared with driving passenger vehicles, but it's possible to reduce the risk without diminishing the joys and thrills that define motorcycling," writes Eric Teoh, Director of Statistical Services at IIHS.

Helmets Save Lives, Period.

Top of the list for improving motorcycling safety is mandating helmets nationwide, says Teoh. Only 18 states require all riders regardless of age to wear helmets, with 30 states setting low age requirements for helmet usage, primarily focusing on children wearing helmets. Only three states have no helmet laws at all.

The IIHS says properly designed helmets reduce the likelihood of death by about 40% and the risk of traumatic brain injury by two-thirds. Additionally, the data contrast between states that have helmet mandates and states that don't is clear. Let's take two states where riding is popular and can be done year-round, as an example.

Texas only requires helmets for riders 20 years old and younger and had 496 motorcycle fatalities in 2021. That's a rate of 13 deaths per every 10,000 motorcycles registered in Texas, according to NHTSA data. By comparison, helmet-mandatory California had 552 deaths in 2021, but a rate of 5.8 deaths per every 10,000 motorcycles registered.

Notably, around 850,000 motorcycles are currently registered in California, indicating the rate of death compared to the amount of riders is considerably lower in California than in Texas. But the weather doesn't have to be good year-round for this statistical trend to stick.

Massachusetts is a helmet mandatory state while neighboring Connecticut only requires helmets for riders 17 years old and under. In 2021, Massachusetts posted 66 motorcyclist deaths and 4.5 deaths for every 10,000 bikes registered while Connecticut roads claimed the lives of 64 riders, but with a rate of 7.3 deaths per every 10,000 registered.

In this case, Massachusetts posted a lower death rate than Connecticut in a year that saw a 27% increase in fatalities from the year prior, indicating that numbers in the New England state were historically lower. The World Health Organization also believes in a mandate, as global data shows motorcycle helmets reduce the chance of brain injuries by up to 74%.

Slowing Down Made Easier

Antilock brakes have been federally mandated in passenger vehicles since 2012 and in large trucks since 1997, but no mandate for motorcycle ABS exists. The IIHS believes this is the next step in reducing motorcycle fatalities, citing studies from the National Transportation Safety Board showing ABS reduces crash rates and crash severity.

"The proliferation of motorcycle ABS over the past two decades is a bright spot in the otherwise grim safety picture. We've gone from having almost no motorcycles with standard ABS in 2003 to about two-thirds of 2023 models with standard ABS," the IIHS report says.