If you ride in Washington, you already know how good it can be. Coffee at the foot of Stevens Pass, lunch somewhere along the Skagit, and you’re back in your driveway before the porch light comes on. Most states make you choose between mountains and canyons. Here you get both before dinner.
You also know the price of admission. Ask around on any group ride and somebody has a story about a buddy who went down on Highway 20, or on a stretch of Chuckanut Drive he’d ridden since he was nineteen. The roads worth the trip tend to be the same ones filling up the crash reports.
None of this is here to talk you into selling the bike. The goal is simpler: show you where the danger sits, why riders keep going down in the same spots, and what your options look like when a driver’s bad decision turns your life upside down.
Why Riders Face Bigger Risks Than Drivers
Motorcycles make up a small share of the traffic in Washington. They make up a much bigger share of the people who die on our roads.
From 2021 through 2025, motorcycles were involved in just 3 percent of crashes in the state, according to the Washington Traffic Safety Commission (WTSC). But more than 580 riders were killed in that time. That’s 16 percent of all traffic deaths in Washington.
There is some good news. Rider deaths hit a record 142 in 2023, and preliminary state numbers show about 103 in 2025. That’s a drop of roughly 27 percent. Even so, it’s still higher than any year from 2015 through 2021.
Summer is when it hits hardest. WTSC says 59 percent of motorcyclist deaths in Washington have historically happened in just four months, May through August. That’s when the most riders are out, and when a lot of them are shaking off the rust after a long winter.
The reason comes down to protection. A driver has a steel frame, seat belts and airbags. You have just your helmet and your gear. Nationally, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) found that per mile traveled, motorcyclists are about 28 times more likely to die in a crash than people in passenger cars.
Western Washington: Heavy Traffic and Two-Lane Danger
Interstate 5
I-5 carries more traffic than any other highway in the state. If you’ve ridden it between Olympia and Everett, you know what that means. Traffic slows to a crawl, then speeds up again with no warning. Drivers dart between lanes without looking. Semi-trucks rumble alongside you, and there’s a good chance the driver has no idea you’re there.
At highway speed, there’s very little margin for error. When a driver makes a mistake on I-5, the rider is almost always the one who pays for it.
SR 522: Woodinville to Monroe
People around here have called SR 522 the “Highway of Death” for decades. Even the Washington State Department of Transportation has acknowledged the nickname. Reader’s Digest once put the roughly 10-mile stretch between Woodinville and Monroe on its list of America’s most dangerous highways.
The state has widened parts of it over the years. But near Monroe, part of the road is still just two lanes with nothing separating you from oncoming traffic. If a driver drifts across the centerline there, you have nowhere to go.
SR 7: Pierce County
SR 7 is a favorite for riders heading south from Tacoma toward Mount Rainier. This spring, it showed how quickly a good ride can end. In April 2026, two motorcyclists were killed at the same spot near Alder Lake, just one week apart. One missed a curve. The other collided with an oncoming SUV.
If you ride SR 7, take the curves near the lake slower than you think you need to, especially on busy weekends.
SR 20: The North Cascades Highway
Ask any rider to name the most beautiful road in the state, and SR 20 over the North Cascades will come up. It’s also one of the most unforgiving. The curves are tight, the grades are steep, and you’re sharing the road with drivers who are looking at the scenery instead of the lane in front of them.
The highway closes every winter, and those first weeks after it reopens are especially risky. One rider was killed near Diablo just two days after the road opened for the season when he took a curve too fast. In another crash near Diablo Lake, a rider crossed the centerline and hit an oncoming car.
Central Washington: Canyons and Mountain Passes
SR 821: The Yakima River Canyon
The Yakima River Canyon between Selah and Ellensburg is one of the best rides in the state. The road follows the river through one curve after another, and on a warm evening it’s hard to beat.
It’s not about the riders losing control that keeps happening here. They’re about drivers turning left without seeing the motorcycle coming toward them.
In June 2024, an impaired driver turned into a ranch entrance north of Selah and hit three motorcycles. Two riders died, and two more were thrown from their bike. A few months later, in September 2024, another rider was killed near Selah when a car turned left across his path. And in 2022, a Yakima rider died in a head-on crash with a pickup in the canyon.
When you ride the canyon, watch every driveway, turnout and campground entrance. Assume the driver waiting to turn hasn’t seen you, because too often they haven’t.
SR 410: Chinook Pass
Chinook Pass climbs to 5,430 feet at the edge of Mount Rainier National Park. Snow and avalanche danger close it every winter, and WSDOT usually reopens it in late May. This year it opened May 22.
Those early rides are tempting, but the road hasn’t always caught up with the season yet. Pavement can be cold and slick. Gravel, rocks and branches are often left over from winter. Shady corners can stay wet long after the rest of the road is dry. And plenty of drivers up there are sightseeing, which means sudden stops in places you don’t expect them.
US 12: White Pass
White Pass links the Yakima Valley to the west side with long climbs and big sweeping curves. You’ll share it with RVs, log trucks, commercial traffic and plenty of other riders.
The weather can turn quickly up there, even in July. And slow vehicles on the grades tempt impatient drivers into bad passes. If you’re the rider coming around the next curve, that impatience becomes your problem.
US 97: Blewett Pass
Blewett Pass connects I-90 near Ellensburg to US 2 near Leavenworth, and it’s a favorite loop for riders from both sides of the mountains.
It’s also a two-lane mountain highway where head-on crashes happen when drivers drift over the centerline. Several deadly crashes on the pass in recent years have followed that same pattern.
I-90 and I-82: High Speed and Heavy Trucks
The interstates through Kittitas and Yakima counties move fast and carry a steady stream of trucks hauling freight and farm products. Conditions on I-90 can change in a hurry, too. Our firm represented a Yakima man who was paralyzed in a multi-vehicle pileup on icy I-90 east of Ellensburg. We’ve seen firsthand how quickly these crashes can change a life.
Eastern Washington: Remote Curves and City Streets
SR 20 Through Northeast Washington
SR 20 doesn’t stop at the Cascades. It keeps going across the top of the state, through Republic, over Sherman Pass and all the way to the Idaho line. These stretches are quiet, curvy and often a long way from the nearest hospital.
This September, a rider was killed east of Republic after missing a curve and going off the road into a creek below. In May, another rider died in a crash north of Cusick in Pend Oreille County.
Spokane City Streets
Not every dangerous road is out in the mountains. The City of Spokane says more than 18 motorcyclists have died on its streets since 2023. After a young rider was killed on Ash Street this September, the city closed a lane for two weeks as an emergency safety step.
In the city, the dangers are busy intersections, turning cars and speed. One of the most common causes of serious crashes is a driver turning left who doesn’t see the motorcycle, or badly misjudges how fast it’s moving.
Why These Crashes Keep Happening
Every road on this list is different. The reasons people get hurt on them mostly aren’t.
WTSC points to three main causes of motorcycle deaths in Washington: speed, impairment from alcohol or drugs, and distraction. Those apply to riders and drivers alike. A driver checking a text, a rider pushing too hard into a curve, or anyone behind the wheel after a few drinks can turn an ordinary ride into a tragedy.
Then there are the drivers who simply don’t see you. Riders hear “I never saw him” after crashes all the time. Add in gravel on mountain passes, deer on rural highways and cold pavement early and late in the season, and it’s easy to see why riding here takes your full attention.
A Few Habits That Can Keep You Safer
You can’t control other drivers. But you can stack the odds in your favor.
Start each season slow. After months off the bike, take a refresher course or spend some time practicing in an empty parking lot before you head for the passes.
Wear your helmet every time. Washington law requires it for riders and passengers, and a good jacket, gloves, pants and boots can be the difference between a bad day and months of recovery.
Check the WSDOT pass report before you leave. Conditions in the mountains can be completely different from what you see at home.
Make yourself easy to see. Bright or reflective gear helps, and so does riding where drivers can actually spot you, especially at intersections and around big trucks.
Ride sober, and ride your own ride. Don’t try to keep up with anyone in curves you don’t know, and give yourself extra room behind the vehicle ahead.
If You’re Hurt in a Motorcycle Crash
Even the most careful rider can get hurt because someone else wasn’t paying attention. If it happens to you, get checked out by a doctor right away, even if you feel fine. Brain injuries and internal injuries don’t always show up at the scene.
Once you’re safe, there are a few things about Washington law you should know.
You have three years from the date of the crash to file most injury claims. That sounds like a lot of time, but evidence fades and witnesses forget. The sooner you act, the stronger your case will be.
Being partly at fault doesn’t end your case. Washington uses a comparative fault system. Even if the insurance company says you share some of the blame, you can still recover compensation. Your award is just reduced by your share of fault.
Your own insurance may help. Washington has one of the highest rates of uninsured drivers in the country. If the driver who hit you had no insurance or not enough, your uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage may help pay your medical bills and lost wages.
And be careful with the insurance company. Riders get blamed unfairly all the time, and some adjusters count on that to pay you less. Don’t give a recorded statement or sign anything until you’ve talked to a lawyer.
Yakima Motorcycle Injury Lawyers, We’re Here When You Need Us
For more than 45 years, Abeyta Nelson Injury Law has stood up for people who were hurt through no fault of their own. Our attorneys have more than 120 years of combined experience, and we’ve won some of the largest injury settlements in the region, including:
- $6.9 million, the largest settlement in Yakima County history
- $4.264 million for a Yakima man paralyzed in a pileup on icy I-90 east of Ellensburg
- $2.5 million for a Wapato man hurt in a collision with an 18-wheeler
When you call us, you’ll talk to an attorney, not a paralegal. That same attorney will be with you from the first phone call to the final settlement. We take care of the investigation, the insurance company and the paperwork, so you can put your energy into getting better. We also have bilingual staff who can help you in English or Spanish.
You don’t pay anything upfront, and you don’t pay anything at all unless we win. Your first consultation is always free.
If you or someone you love was hurt in a motorcycle crash, call Abeyta Nelson Injury Law at 509-575-1588 for your free case evaluation. You’ll talk to a real person who cares about what happened to you. We have offices in Yakima, Ellensburg and Sunnyside.
