Queensland motorcyclist deaths highest in Australia for five years

Queensland has had the highest number of fatal motorcycle accidents in the country for five consecutive years with 2026 shaping up to be just as bad, police say.

Last year 75 motorcycle riders or passengers lost their lives on Queensland roads, continuing an upward trend in fatalities since 2020.

Inspector Gareth Bosley from the Specialist Operations Road Policing Group said 37 riders or passengers have lost their lives on Queensland roads so far this year.

That number includes fatal accidents involving non-compliant electric motorcycles.

"That's five more than the same time last year, so we're heading for another increase again," he said.

Inspector Bosley said a rise in motorcycle ownership post-COVID, as well as non-compliant electric motorcycles and an increase in hooning behaviours are all factors behind the rise in fatal crashes.

Recent years have also seen the growth of content being filmed and posted on social media, Inspector Bosley added.

"We've seen offenders travelling at very high speeds, performing very dangerous manoeuvres with film crews travelling beside them in vehicles filming their exploits and then posting online for notoriety," he said.

In recent months Queensland police have released multiple videos of motorcycle riders being pulled over for high range speeding offences.

Earlier this week a 23-year-old man had his licence suspended after he was detected allegedly travelling at more than 200 km/h in a 100km/h zone at Bowen.

Most deaths since 1986

Queensland's upward trend can be seen nationally, with a roughly 33 per cent rise in the rate of motorcycle deaths per 100,000 registered motorcycles Australia-wide between 2020 and 2024.

Fatal accidents in Queensland reached their lowest numbers in 2014 when 37 people lost their lives, resulting in a rate of 19.8 deaths per 100,000 motorcycles.

Less than ten years later, in 2023, that number had more than doubled to 79 deaths and the rate had steadily risen to the lows 30s.

In terms of raw lives — the number of people who went out for a ride and never made it home — 2023 was the worst year for Queensland motorcyclists since 1986.

University of Queensland traffic psychology researcher Dr Shamsi Shekari said motorcycle riders are "heavily over-represented" in road fatalities, but that there is no "one single explanation".

Dr Shekari said Queensland's year-round riding weather, combined with a more decentralised population and an extensive regional road network are all factors contributing to higher numbers of fatal crashes.

"Regional and rural travel involves higher speed, longer distances, fatigue exposure, less forgiving roadsides and potentially longer emergency response and trauma care times," Dr Shekari said.

She said identifying and upgrading regional roads and intersections where crashes are concentrated should be a priority.

Dr Shekari also suggested a simulated motorcycle licensing program could help.

"Presenting real world hazards to motorcyclists when riding on the simulator and then testing them on that could be … a fantastic way to see how they are interacting and what is their perception."

A close call

Tyler Wiebe, 46, almost became a part of those statistics when he was involved in an accident in Brisbane earlier this year.

Mr Wiebe was on his way to work on Gympie Road in Brisbane's north in June when a car travelling in the opposite direction veered into the wrong lane and struck another car.

The second vehicle hit Mr Wiebe's motorcycle and pinned him underneath, with the tire resting on his chest.

He was left with 14 broken ribs, a broken sternum and clavicle, a collapsed lung and four broken vertebrae.

While he hopes to return to work next month, Mr Wiebe said a full recovery is expected to take about one year.

A lifelong rider who first hopped on a dirt bike in rural Canada at the age of four, Mr Wiebe said motorcycles have "always been a very important passion".

"I've always thought of myself as an extremely conscientious rider," he said.

After the accident Mr Wiebe said he isn't sure if he has the confidence to get back on a bike again.

"We always had a bit of a joke that every time I got a new motorcycle, we'd double my life insurance,"

"But the comedy of that kind of loses its shine in an incident like this."

Mr Wiebe said the accident had been "very hard" on his wife as well.

"Almost harder on her than it has been on me, so I don't think I could put her through that again."