In a highly touted safety achievement, deaths on the nation’s roads and highways have fallen sharply in recent years, to the lowest total in more than a half-century. But motorcyclists have missed out on that dramatic improvement, and the news for them has been increasingly grim.

Annual cost savings in states with universal motorcycle helmet laws were nearly four times greater (per registered motorcycle) than in states without these comprehensive laws, according to a Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report study released today by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

Baby boomers are getting hurt more often and injured more severely in motorcycle accidents than younger riders, according to a study published in Injury Prevention. Researchers examined the differences in motorcycle-related injuries across age groups by checking data from hospital emergency rooms.