As if Texas drivers needed one more reason to obey the rules of the road: The Lone Star State now holds the undesirable distinction of being the most dangerous state for motorcyclists.
A new study from personal injury law firm Nicolet Law assigns a motorcyclist risk score to Texas of 99 out of 100. At No. 2 is Louisiana, with a score of 77.
The study bases the scores on factors such as the number of deadly motorcycle crashes per 100,000 motorcycles, the number of motorcyclists killed vs. the number of motorcyclists involved in crashes, average annual rainfall, road conditions, alcohol and drug impairment, and speed-related traffic deaths.
The worst of the study’s findings: Texas ranks first in the country for the average number of deaths per 100,000 motorcycles — 133. It also lands at No. 1 for the number of motorcyclists involved in deadly crashes per 100,000 motorcycles (148) and the number of speed-related deaths per 100,000 motorcycles (60).
Last year, 581 motorcyclists died on Texas roads, according to the Texas Department of Transportation. In good news, that’s down slightly from the 2023 death toll of 599.
“The recent surge in motorcycle purchases and rising gas prices have led more Texans to choose motorcycles as their primary transportation,” say the study’s authors. “This trend, combined with Texas’ extensive highway system and high speed limits, creates unique safety challenges.”
Texas actually is not the state with the most registered motorcycles. California ranks first in that category, with Texas in sixth place, according to 2023 federal data.
However, Southern states dominate the list of most dangerous places for motorcycle riders.
The top 10 deadliest states for motorcyclists are:
1. Texas
2. Louisiana
3. South Carolina
4. Arkansas
5. Missouri
6. Tennessee
7. Florida
8. Mississippi
9. Nevada
10. Arizona
“The conversation about motorcycle safety often stops at accident numbers, but the real issue runs deeper,” says Russell Nicolet, president of Nicolet Law. “Riding represents freedom for many, yet it also exposes gaps in how we design roads, educate drivers, and prepare communities for shared responsibility. Until safety is viewed not as an individual rider’s burden but as a collective cultural and infrastructural priority, motorcyclists will remain uniquely vulnerable.”