Motorcycle deaths and serious injuries in Northern Ireland: what the latest data shows
Official DfI analysis recorded 566 motorcyclists killed or seriously injured between 2020 and 2024. Newer 2025 data shows motorcyclists still have by far the highest KSI rate per kilometre travelled of the main road-user groups.
Updated 21 September 2026. Motorcyclists make up a relatively small part of traffic, but Northern Ireland's collision statistics show a much higher risk of death or serious injury per distance travelled than for car users.
A Department for Infrastructure statistical brief published in May 2026 recorded 566 motorcyclists killed or seriously injured on Northern Ireland roads between 2020 and 2024. A further 23 pillion passengers were killed or seriously injured.
Final 2025 data then recorded six motorcyclist deaths. The Northern Ireland Road Safety Strategy statistics put the 2025 motorcyclist KSI rate at 344 per 100 million kilometres travelled — compared with four for car/van users.
Motorcyclist KSI figures: 2020 to 2024
| Measure | Official figure |
|---|---|
| Motorcyclists killed or seriously injured | 566 |
| Share of all road-user KSI casualties | 13% |
| Pillion passengers killed or seriously injured | 23 |
| Male share of motorcyclist KSI casualties | 95% |
| Motorcyclist judged responsible for collision in which they were KSI | 52% |
| Motorcyclist KSI casualties from single-vehicle collisions | 25% |
| Motorcyclist KSI casualties on rural roads | 51% |
| Motorcyclist fatalities on rural roads | 65% |
DfI's separate road-safety campaign material states that 51 motorcyclists died between 1 January 2020 and 31 December 2024, an average of around ten a year across the period.
What happened in 2025?
PSNI's final 2025 key statistics report recorded 56 road deaths in Northern Ireland. Six of those who died were motorcyclists. There were 23 vulnerable-road-user deaths overall: 16 pedestrians, six motorcyclists and one pedal cyclist.
The most useful 2025 comparison is not the raw number of deaths, however. It is the rate adjusted for how far each road-user group travels.
Motorcyclists had the highest KSI rate per distance travelled
| Road-user group | 2025 KSI rate per 100 million km travelled |
|---|---|
| Car/van users | 4 |
| Pedestrians | 41 |
| Pedal cyclists | 63 |
| Motorcyclists | 344 |
That exposure-adjusted rate is why motorcycle safety cannot be understood simply by comparing raw casualty totals with cars. Far more kilometres are travelled in cars and vans.
Where and when do serious motorcycle casualties occur?
Just over half — 51% — of motorcyclist KSI casualties in the 2020-2024 analysis occurred on rural roads. Rural roads accounted for an even larger share of motorcyclist deaths, at 65%.
Saturday had the largest number of motorcyclist KSIs: 107 of the 566, or 19%. Thursday had the fewest, with 54, or 10%.
At district level, DfI reported the highest motorcyclist KSI rate in Newry, Mourne & Down at 41.5 per 100,000 resident population and the lowest in Mid Ulster at 19.0. Population-based district rates should not be confused with a measure of the danger of every individual road in those areas.
Who was recorded as responsible for the collision?
DfI reports that motorcyclists were considered responsible for just over half — 52% — of the collisions in which they themselves were killed or seriously injured.
That statistic is useful precisely because it does not support the simplistic claim that serious motorcycle collisions are always caused by the rider, or always caused by another driver. The data is close to evenly divided.
Responsibility in collision statistics is also a recorded analytical classification. It should not be turned into a moral judgment about an injured person or used to speculate about an individual collision.
Why motorcycle injuries are more likely to be severe
A motorcycle provides far less physical protection than an enclosed vehicle. In a collision, a rider is more exposed to direct impact with another vehicle, the road surface or roadside objects. That helps explain why motorcycle users are disproportionately represented among killed and seriously injured casualties relative to their total travel.
DfI's 2020-2024 analysis notes that motorcycle users were the road-user group most likely to be killed or seriously injured when they were casualties in a collision.
What the figures do not tell us
These statistics do not mean every rural motorcycle journey is dangerous or every rider is high-risk. They also do not prove why an individual collision happened. Risk changes with road design, weather, speed, visibility, rider and driver behaviour, experience, protective equipment and many other factors.
The value of official data is to show patterns across many incidents, not to reconstruct cases it was not designed to explain.
Frequently asked questions
How many motorcyclists were killed or seriously injured in Northern Ireland from 2020 to 2024?
566 motorcyclists, plus 23 pillion passengers, according to DfI's 2026 statistical brief.
How many motorcyclists died in Northern Ireland in 2025?
Six, according to PSNI's final 2025 key statistics.
Are motorcycle casualties more likely on rural roads?
In the 2020-2024 analysis, 51% of motorcyclist KSI casualties and 65% of motorcyclist fatalities occurred on rural roads.
What is the motorcycle KSI rate per distance travelled?
For 2025, DfI reports 344 motorcyclist KSIs per 100 million kilometres travelled by motorcycle, the highest of the main road-user groups listed.
Are riders responsible for most serious motorcycle collisions?
DfI says riders were recorded as responsible for 52% of the collisions in which they were KSI casualties — just over half, not all or nearly all.
Sources and methodology
The article uses DfI's dedicated Motorcyclist KSI Casualties 2020-2024 analysis, the Northern Ireland Road Safety Strategy annual statistics and PSNI's final 2025 key statistics. Five-year motorcycle patterns and 2025 annual figures are kept separate rather than merged into one trend.
