The number of bike insurance claims made as a result of road accidents have plummeted as riding becomes safer, new figures has shown.

According to statistics from the Department of Transport (DfT), the number of fatalities and serious injuries to motorcyclists caused through road accidents fell by ten per cent in 2008 compared to the previous year.

In 2008 493 bikers died on Britain’s road compared to the average of 467 between 1994 and 1998.

Yet the figures revealed that last year had seen the lowest number of motorcycle fatalities since 1996, when 440 riders were killed, despite the 44 per cent increase in the number of riders during the same period of 2008.

The Motorcycle Industry Association (MCIA) stated that with the increasing number of motorcyclists and bike riders on the roads, the figures suggest that Britain’s roads are becoming safer for riders.

Director of communications and research at the MCIA, Sheila Rainger said: "To see a fall in motorcycle fatalities of almost one hundred in a single year is a massive achievement - and one of which everyone working towards safer motorcycling can be proud."

However, she warned that "there is no room for complacency.

Continued work to develop more relevant training, aimed at rider attitudes as much as rider skills; national funding for BikeSafe; and proper integration of motorcycles into transport policy will help sustain this improvement in the future.”