When motorcyclists get into accidents, they are much more likely to be seriously hurt or killed. The Insurance Information Institute says that 4,976 motorcyclists died in accidents in 2015. This is 8.3% more than the number of people who died in motorcycle accidents in 2014. In 2015, 88,000 more people got hurt in motorcycle accidents. Because motorcycle drivers and passengers don’t have much protection from the environment around them, they are more likely to get hurt in accidents in many different ways, some of which could be very bad. Safety gear makes it less likely that you’ll get hurt and makes it less bad when you do.