Young motorcyclists more often involved in serious accidents in 2025, police data show

Young motorcyclists were again more frequently involved in serious accidents last year, according to figures the ANP news agency obtained from Dutch police. The total number of accidents involving a motorcyclist that resulted in serious injury or death also rose.

In 2025, police registered 2,062 accidents with serious injury involving a motorcyclist. In three out of 10 of those accidents, the motorcyclist was younger than 26. That share matched the figure for 2024 but exceeded the levels of the two preceding years. In addition, there were 68 fatal accidents involving a motorcycle last year.

Young people were involved in more than one-third of those fatal crashes, up from one-quarter a year earlier. The largest share of those involved in the serious accidents remained people ages 26 to 50. Police offered no explanation for the figures.

Data from Statistics Netherlands (CBS) show that young people are obtaining motorcycle licenses more often. Kirsten van Duijvenvoorde, a researcher at the Institute for Road Safety Research (SWOV), said that does not mean they are riding more kilometers. “That data broken down by age is not available,” she said. She emphasized that motorcyclists are vulnerable road users. “A motorcyclist does not have the same protection as a car driver and is quickly overlooked. If they lose control of their vehicle, it can quickly go wrong.”

Both SWOV and VeiligheidNL examined the causes of motorcycle accidents. Susanne Nijman, a researcher at VeiligheidNL, said a single-vehicle accident does not mean no other road user was involved.

“If a motorcyclist has to swerve for another road user but there is no collision, it is a single-vehicle accident in which another road user was involved,” she said. “Therefore, there is also gain to be made with other road users regarding awareness of the safety of motorcyclists in traffic.” Nijman added that motorcyclists should be pointed toward wearing protective clothing and the option of further training and refresher courses.