Motorcyclists are always at risk of injury. They have fewer protections on the road, and dangerous drivers can collide with, and kill, even the best motorcyclists. If you’re hit and hurt, seeking compensation is important, so you can care for yourself and cover your financial losses.

How often do motorcyclists really get fatally wounded in the U.S.? In 2014, 4,295 motorcyclists were killed. These deaths appear high in number, but the fact is that they had been in steady decline since the 1980s thanks to better safety equipment and information regarding motorcyclists on the roads. Unfortunately, the number of accidents did increase between 1998 and 2012, even though they are once again declining today.

What does that mean for motorcyclists? Overall, motorcyclists made up 13 percent of all motor vehicle crash fatalities in 2014, and people are dying at over twice the rate as those in 1997. In 2014, 4,295 motorcyclists were killed compared to 21,102 passenger vehicle occupant deaths.

Seventy-two percent of the motorcyclists killed in 2014 did have a valid driver’s license at the time of the collision, and 58 percent of the crashes with fatalities were multi-vehicle collisions.

Who is most at risk of being in a motorcycle crash today? Surprisingly, those under the age of 30 only make up around 30 percent of the fatally injured motorcyclists compared to 80 percent when the data started to be collected in 1975. Today, it’s actually those over 50 who make up 36 percent of all fatally wounded motorcyclists involved in collisions. Males are still most likely to be killed, with 92 percent of motorcyclists killed in 2014 being male and only 8 percent being female.

Source: Insurance Institute for Highway Safety and Highway Loss Data Institute, “Motorcycles and ATVs,” accessed April 06, 2016