California has more registered motorcycles than any other state and the third-highest number of motorcyclist deaths. Below is what the federal and state crash data actually show, with the source and year for every figure.
A note on the numbers. Federal fatality data comes from NHTSA’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System, which publishes twice: an Annual Report File about eight months after year end, then a Final File about eighteen months after. Final counts run higher. California’s 2022 count, for example, was first published as 634 and finalized at 649. Recent years on this page are early-vintage and will likely revise upward. California injury totals come from a different system entirely (CHP’s SWITRS) and are not interchangeable with federal fatality counts.
California motorcyclist fatalities by year
| Year | Motorcyclist deaths | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 576 | FARS Final, via California OTS |
| 2017 | 578 | FARS, via California OTS |
| 2018 | 523 | FARS, via California OTS |
| 2019 | 491 | FARS, via California OTS |
| 2020 | 549 | FARS Final, via California OTS |
| 2021 | 565 | FARS, via California OTS |
| 2022 | 649 | FARS Final, via California OTS |
| 2023 | 583 | NHTSA, Traffic Safety Facts — Motorcycles: 2023 Data |
| 2024 | 522 | IIHS Fatality Facts 2024 (FARS) |
2022 was the worst year in this series. The apparent decline since then is real but should be read cautiously, because 2023 and 2024 are earlier-vintage figures than 2022 and are likely to rise when finalized.
How California compares nationally
California is often described as the deadliest state for motorcyclists. On raw counts that is not accurate — it ranks third, and has for at least two years running.
| State | Motorcyclist deaths, 2024 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|
| Florida | 642 | 668 |
| Texas | 583 | 598 |
| California | 522 | 583 |
| Ohio | 222 | — |
| Arizona | 219 | — |
Sources: IIHS Fatality Facts 2024 and NHTSA Traffic Safety Facts, Motorcycles: 2023 Data.
California accounted for roughly 8 to 9 percent of United States motorcyclist deaths in those years, against a national total of 6,228 in 2024 and 6,335 in 2023.
What California does lead in is motorcycles. Federal Highway Administration data for 2023 puts registrations at 775,650 — ahead of Florida’s 626,534, Ohio’s 422,132, Pennsylvania’s 363,002 and Texas’s 333,397. More riders on the road is the honest version of the “California leads the nation” claim.
Motorcyclists as a share of California traffic deaths
| Year | Motorcyclist deaths | All CA traffic deaths | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 583 | 4,061 | 14% |
| 2024 | 522 | 3,876 | 13% |
For context, motorcycles were 3.1 percent of registered vehicles in the United States in 2023 but 15 percent of all traffic deaths.
How much more dangerous is a motorcycle?
NHTSA publishes the comparison that controls for exposure. For 2023:
| Measure | Motorcycles | Passenger cars | Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|
| Deaths per 100 million vehicle miles travelled | 31.39 | 1.13 | ~28× |
| Deaths per 100,000 registered vehicles | 66.57 | 11.61 | ~5.7× |
The per-mile figure is the meaningful one, and IIHS reports the same result independently: per mile travelled in 2023, motorcyclist deaths were nearly 28 times the rate for car occupants. The per-registration ratio understates the risk because motorcycles are ridden far fewer miles a year than cars.
NHTSA does not publish a state-level per-mile rate. Dividing California’s 583 deaths in 2023 by its 775,650 registered motorcycles gives about 75 deaths per 100,000 registrations, against a national 66.57 — but that is a calculation from two official figures, not a published statistic.
California motorcycle injuries
Injury counts come from CHP’s Statewide Integrated Traffic Records System, not from federal fatality data.
| Year | Motorcyclists injured | Motorcyclists killed (SWITRS) |
|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 14,073 | 511 |
| 2019 | 12,935 | 484 |
| 2020 | 10,553 | 565 |
Source: CHP, California Quick Crash Facts 2019 and 2020.
There is a real gap in the public record here. CHP’s annual SWITRS report series ends with 2020. The agency has migrated to a new collision reporting system and has not published a successor annual report, so there is no official statewide motorcycle injury total for 2021 through 2024. The most recent published figure is 10,553 injured in 2020.
Note also that SWITRS counted 565 motorcyclist deaths in 2020 while FARS counted 549. The two systems define and collect differently. They should never be combined into a single series.
Where crashes happen — California counties
| County | Motorcyclist deaths, 2023 | Serious injuries, 2023 |
|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles | 125 | 754 |
| San Diego | 52 | 317 |
| Riverside | 50 | 210 |
| San Bernardino | 48 | 179 |
| Orange | 42 | 140 |
Source: UC Berkeley SafeTREC, 2025 Traffic Safety Facts — Motorcycle Safety (FARS and provisional SWITRS, 2023 data).
Los Angeles County alone accounted for more than a fifth of California motorcyclist deaths in 2023.
What causes California motorcycle crashes
SafeTREC reports the primary collision factor recorded for California motorcycle crashes in 2023:
| Primary collision factor | 2023 | 2022 |
|---|---|---|
| Unsafe speed | 28.2% | 28.7% |
| Improper turning | 19.8% | 21.3% |
| Automobile right-of-way violation | 19.3% | 17.2% |
| Impaired riding | 8.7% | 9.6% |
| Unsafe lane change | 5.2% | 5.4% |
The left-turn crash
Nationally, NHTSA reports that in two-vehicle fatal crashes involving a motorcycle in 2023, 46 percent (1,588 crashes) involved the other vehicle turning left while the motorcycle was going straight, passing, or overtaking. In 2022 the figure was 44 percent.
That single crash type is the reason so many motorcycle accident claims turn on the other driver’s failure to see an approaching rider, and it is examined further in our guide to the top causes of motorcycle accidents in California. NHTSA does not publish a California-specific left-turn share, but improper turning and automobile right-of-way violations together account for roughly 39 percent of California motorcycle crashes, which points the same direction.
Two further NHTSA figures for 2023 are worth knowing: 36 percent of motorcycle riders in fatal crashes were speeding, and 34 percent did not hold a valid motorcycle licence.
Helmets
California has a universal helmet law, and the data show it working.
Of the 583 motorcyclists killed in California in 2023, FARS recorded 527 as helmeted, 33 as unhelmeted and 23 unknown — about 94 percent helmeted among those whose use was known. Unhelmeted deaths fell from 43 in 2022 to 33 in 2023.
The national contrast is stark. In states without a universal helmet law, 51 percent of motorcyclists killed were unhelmeted; in states with one, 10 percent.
NHTSA estimates helmets are 37 percent effective at preventing fatal injury for riders and 41 percent for passengers. Its most recent published lives-saved estimate is 1,872 motorcyclists in 2017 — still the figure NHTSA cites, and worth noting as 2017 data rather than current.
Observed helmet use in the West region reached 91.7 percent in 2023, against 73.8 percent nationally. NHTSA’s observational survey does not break out individual states.
Alcohol
In 2023, 145 California motorcycle riders killed had a blood alcohol concentration of .08 or higher — 26 percent, matching the national rate exactly. Nationally the share rises to 41 percent in single-vehicle crashes and 38 percent in nighttime crashes.
California’s own crash data records impaired riding as the primary collision factor in 8.7 percent of motorcycle crashes. That is a different measurement from the 26 percent figure — one is a blood test among riders killed, the other is an officer’s attribution of cause across all crashes. They are not interchangeable.
Lane splitting
California became the first state to formally authorise lane splitting when AB 51 took effect in 2016. The main safety research remains a 2015 UC Berkeley SafeTREC study of 5,969 collision-involved motorcyclists, of whom 997 — 17 percent — were lane splitting.
| Injury | Lane splitting | Not lane splitting |
|---|---|---|
| Head injury | 9% | 17% |
| Torso injury | 19% | 29% |
| Extremity injury | 60% | 66% |
| Fatal injury | 1.2% | 3.0% |
The study’s central finding was about speed differential, not lane splitting as such. Differentials up to 15 mph showed no associated increase in injury; above that, injury likelihood rose.
An important limit. The study examined crashes from 2012 and 2013, before AB 51. It describes riders splitting lanes when the practice was merely not prohibited, and it was not an evaluation of the law. No comparable post-legalisation study has been published.
Who is riding
The average age of motorcycle riders killed nationally was 41 in 2023, down slightly from 42 in 2022. The longer trend is the more striking one. IIHS data show that in 1975, 80 percent of fatally injured riders were 29 or younger and just 3 percent were 50 or older. By 2024, riders 50 and older made up 31 percent of motorcyclist deaths.
In California, SafeTREC reports males aged 25 to 34 as the most represented group — 22.0 percent of fatalities and 26.1 percent of serious injuries. Males account for 95 percent of California motorcyclist deaths.
When crashes happen
In California, 41.4 percent of fatal motorcycle crashes in 2023 occurred on a Saturday or Sunday, with the single worst window being Saturday between noon and 3pm. Just over a fifth of fatal crashes fell between 3pm and 6pm.
Nationally in 2023, 56 percent of motorcyclist fatalities occurred in daylight and 39 percent in darkness.
What the numbers mean for a claim
Statistics do not decide cases, but several of the figures above shape how motorcycle claims actually run.
- The left-turn pattern cuts against the standard defence. Insurers routinely open by suggesting the rider was speeding or riding recklessly. When 46 percent of fatal two-vehicle motorcycle crashes involve a car turning left across a rider going straight, the more common failure is a driver not seeing the motorcycle.
- Helmet use is not a defence to liability. California requires helmets, and 94 percent of riders killed here were wearing one. Where a rider was not, the argument goes to comparative fault on the injuries a helmet would have prevented, not to whether the other driver was negligent.
- Comparative fault reduces but never bars recovery. California is a pure comparative negligence state under Li v. Yellow Cab Co. (1975) 13 Cal.3d 804. A rider found 60 percent at fault still recovers 40 percent of damages.
- Lane splitting is legal. It is not negligence per se, and the research does not support treating it as inherently more dangerous. Speed differential is the variable that matters.
- Deadlines. Two years from the date of injury under Code of Civil Procedure section 335.1. If a public entity is involved — a government vehicle, or a claim that road design or maintenance contributed — a written government claim must be presented within six months under Government Code section 911.2.
Sources
- NHTSA, Traffic Safety Facts — Motorcycles: 2023 Data (DOT HS 813 732), and the 2022 edition
- NHTSA, Motorcycle Helmet Use in 2022, and Occupant Restraint Use in 2023 (Research Note DOT HS 813 634)
- IIHS, Fatality Facts 2024: Motorcycles and ATVs, and state-by-state fatality data
- California Office of Traffic Safety, Traffic Safety Quick Stats and Motorcycle Safety programme data
- California Highway Patrol, California Quick Crash Facts 2019 and 2020 (SWITRS)
- UC Berkeley SafeTREC, 2025 Traffic Safety Facts: Motorcycle Safety
- Rice, Troszak & Erhardt, Motorcycle Lane-Splitting and Safety in California, UC Berkeley SafeTREC, 2015
- Federal Highway Administration, Highway Statistics Table MV-1 (2023 registrations)
- National Safety Council, Injury Facts — Motorcycles
Injured in a motorcycle accident in California or Nevada?
B&D Law Group, APLC represents injured riders throughout California and from our North Las Vegas office. If an insurer has already suggested the crash was your fault for riding a motorcycle at all, that is worth pushing back on. Consultations are free and there is no fee unless we recover for you.
Figures on this page are drawn from published federal and California state sources and are current as of August 2026. Crash data are revised as agencies finalise their files. This article is general information, not legal advice, and does not create an attorney-client relationship.