In the comment for the chart, "Deaths per 100,000 Registered Vehicles," I give several reasons which I thought may have contributed to the way the fatality rate for motorcycles has changed the way it has in the 1975-2000 period.

After looking at the chart at the top, I think that the most influential factor to affect the rise and fall of motorcycle fatality rate is the rise and fall in the number of registered motorcycles. Their movements are loosely correlated. If the number of registered motorcycle goes up, so does the motorcycle fatality rate. If the number of registered motorcycle goes down, so does the motorcycle fatality rate. This kind of correlation cannot be seen between the number of registered passenger cars and the passenger car fatality rate. (Go to "Registered Passenger Cars, Fatalities, Fatality Rate, VMTs" to see a similar chart showing the number of registered passenger cars and their fatality rate for 1975-2000 period.)

We can conclude from these charts for motorcycles and passenger cars that they are very different beasts, indeed.

What Does All This Mean?

While the number of registered passenger cars doesn't change erratically, that of motorcycles does go through more pronounced rise and fall. What I think causes this is that for most people riding a motorcycle is not a necessity but rather something they do for enjoyment, while driving a car is a necessity for many people.

We may safely conclude that when the number of registered motorcycles is on the rise, the more people are joining the pool of riders because riding is gaining popularity for whatever reason, usually the image of riding getting better in the society. As more people get the impression that riding looks "cool," more people start riding. I'm afraid some of those who get in on riding because they think riding looks "cool" may not be athletic enough for handling a bike and/or may not have serious attitude towards riding which I think are necessary to ride well. See how people may get affected by the media on the image of riding in Motorcycle Sales Continue to Increase for the Seventh Straight Year.

If you are one of those who started riding because you thought riding looked "cool" without really realizing the danger of riding, you have two options. The option 1 is to quit riding. You won't be injured or killed in a motorcycle accident. The option 2 is to start taking riding extremely seriously. By accepting riding as a very serious, inherently dangerous activity, something you don't start and quit at a whim, perhaps, you can reduce the risk of riding. The choice is yours.