Summer is a popular time for motorcycle rides, with clear skies and long days providing ample opportunities for hitting the road.
Riding a motorcycle comes with inherent safety risks.
Over the past few months, Tri-Cities has seen multiple deadly motorcycle crashes.
An Idaho man died Aug. 8 when his motorcycle hit the back of a semitrailer stopped at a red light along Highway 395. Less than two weeks later, a single-vehicle motorcycle crash killed a Kennewick father of five who lost control along the same highway.
Two recent studies analyzed motorcycle safety statistics by state.
Here’s how Washington state ranked:
How often do motorcyclists die in Washington state?
A recent study by Steve Gimblin Personal Injury and Car Accident Crash Lawyers looked at five years of deadly motorcycle crash data across the country.
The California law firm compiled data for the month of August in 2020 through 2024 for each state, and calculated an average number of fatal crashes involving motorcycles across the five-year period.
It also determined the rate of deadly crashes per 100,000 residents. States were ranked from highest to lowest based on that rate.
Using this system, the law group determined Wyoming had the highest rate of motorcycle crashes from 2020 to 2024.
Wyoming had a population of around 587,600 people in 2024, and averaged 5.4 fatal crashes involving motorcyclists across the study. That’s a rate of 0.92 crashes per 100,000 residents.
Comparably, Washington state ranked No. 7 in terms of the states with the highest deadly motorcycle crash rates.
The Evergreen State had an average of 18 fatal motorcycle crashes over a five-year period. With a population nearing 8 million in 2024, that amounts to 0.23 crashes for every 100,000 residents.
According to the study, 90 people died in August motorcycle crashes in Washington state throughout the study duration. The state’s deadliest August was in 2022, with 28 fatal crashes.
“In Washington, where Pacific Northwest coastal highways, Cascade Mountain routes and scenic byways draw riders during the region’s warm summer months, the risk is especially pronounced,” the law group said in its report.
Which states have the most, least motorcycle crashes causing death?
According to the California law firm, these were the 10 U.S. states with the highest rates of fatal crashes involving motorcycles: 1. Wyoming: 0.92 fatal motorcycle crashes per 100,000 residents 2. Montana: 0.63 3. Colorado: 0.33 4. Idaho: 0.32 5. Oregon: 0.25 6. New Mexico: 0.23 7. Washington: 0.23 8. Arizona: 0.20 9. Nevada: 0.20 10. Alaska: 0.19
The law firm found that the U.S. state with the lowest rate of deadly motorcycle crashes was New Jersey, with 0.11 fatal crashes per 100,000 people.
How many fatal crashes in Washington state involve motorcycles?
The same law firm conducted a separate study focused on deadly single-vehicle crashes involving motorcycles.
This study analyzed crash data involving specifically deadly crashes involving solo vehicles between 2020 and 2024, looking at the entire year instead of just August.
Researchers determined the average number of single-vehicle crash deaths per year involving motorcycles, and state population was used to determine a per-capita rate of such deaths.. All states were then ranked by rate.
Nationally, there was an average of 0.81 deaths from single-vehicle motorcycle crashes per 100,000 residents, the study found.
When looking at these metrics, Washington state was the ninth-safest state in the nation. It had 0.51 single-vehicle motorcycle crash deaths per every 100,00 residents.
Washington state’s deadliest year was 2023, with 49 such deaths.
“With a population of over 7.8 million, the state’s consistent average of 40 annual deaths over five years confirms this low rate reflects structural advantages, not statistical chance,” the law firm said in its report.
Which states have the most, least single-vehicle motorcycle deaths?
Wyoming had the highest rate of fatal single-vehicle crashes involving motorcycles from 2020 to 2024 with a rate of 1.89 deaths per every 100,000 residents, according to Steve Gimblin Personal Injury and Car Accident Crash Lawyers.
The state saw an average of 11 such crashes per year.
These were the 10 states with the highest rates of single-vehicle motorcycle deaths between 2020 and 2024, the law firm said: 1. Wyoming: 1.89 deaths per 100,000 people 2. Montana: 1.59 3. South Dakota: 1.48 4. Arkansas: 1.25 5. Missouri: 1.12 6. Vermont: 1.08 7. South Carolina: 1.05 8. New Mexico: 1.03 9. West Virginia: 1.02 10. North Dakota: 1.02
The 10 states with the lowest death rates were: 1. New Jersey: 0.35 2. Massachusetts: 0.37 3. New York: 0.38 4. Delaware: 0.43 5. Alaska: 0.46 6. Illinois: 0.46 7. Maryland: 0.50 8. Nebraska: 0.51 9. Washington: 0.51 10. California: 0.52
The report noted the vast difference between the highest-ranked state and the lowest-ranked state, from 0.35 to 1.89.
The three states with the lowest rates of death from single-vehicle motorcycle crashes are all urban and densely populated, with high traffic rates and lower speed limits. The state with the highest risk, Wyoming, is none of the above.
The law group suggests this difference illustrates “how dramatically the riding environment differs between rural, open-road states and their urban counterparts.”
© 2026 Tri-City Herald (Kennewick, Wash.). Visit www.tri-cityherald.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
