The CDC states the leading causes of death in the US are heart disease, cancer and accidents. Of the three the mostly likely one that should concern us are the motorcycle stats- its very ugly.
Ridership and demographics
From 1980 motorcycle ownership among riders aged 40 and over increased dramatically, from 15.1 percent of all riders in 1980 to 43.7 percent in 1998. The mean engine displacement of the motorcycles involved in fatal crashes also increased, from an average engine size of 769 cc (46.9 cu in) in 1990, to 959 cc (58.5 cu in) in 2001, an increase of 24.7 percent.[11]
It has been suggested that the combination of older riders on higher-powered motorcycles might have been partially responsible for the increase in motorcycle deaths from the late 1990s until 2004.[11] Blunt abdominal trauma can be caused by a motorcycle accident, and can damage the testes and intestines.[12]
Half of motorcycle fatalities in single-vehicle crashes relate to problems negotiating a curve prior to a crash—almost 60 percent of motorcyclist fatalities in single-vehicle crashes occur at night.[8] However, even when riders survive, around 10% of trauma injuries include damage to the genital area, such as due to the collision of that area with a bike's gas tank.[13]
Motorcycle accidents were the leading non-combat cause of death for US service members.[18] Between 1999 and 2012 4,423 died in combined motor vehicle deaths including motorcycles.[19] Of those 1,134 died in motorcycle crashes.[20] Between 2001 and 2008, the portion of fatalities from motorcycles tripled, and by 2008 was almost 40% of overall vehicle fatalities.[19] Motorcycle deaths have come under increased attention because other types of non-motorcycle fatalities have decreased, so motorcycle fatalities became an increased share of deaths.[19] The fatalities echoed the national statistics with motorcycle fatalities of 4,927 deaths being 15 percent of all traffic deaths in 2012, even though motorcycles are three percent of vehicles.[21] However, they account for a relatively smaller amount of the total miles traveled (motorcycles are often only driven in good weather) about 0.7% of all vehicles miles traveled 2012.[7]
(About half a million people to a million people would die each year if cars had a similar accident rate, all else being equal.)
93% of the crashes in 2012 involved a two-wheeled motorcycle.Of 4,957 killed in 2012 on motorcycles, 7% were passengers.[22] Combined driver and passenger deaths for motorcycles were 18% of all driver and passenger deaths in 2012 for all vehicles.[22] This is for just 0.7% out of all vehicles miles driven in the US that year.[22]
and it keeps getting worse;
The data shows that most deaths occur in the afternoon evenly split rural urban which given the population density would suggest single vehicle accidents on sunny afternoons out in the country are one of the leading causes of death in our sport
The stats demonstrate that some of us latte lurkers will die on our beloved Ducati motorcycles well before natural causes.
