This boomer death thing ain't new. They've been talking about it for a while. I tried to get good stats on it several times. Part of the problem with getting the stats is that each state does it differently. Most will give you age, sex, alcohol involvement, but few really describe cause in a manner that can be easily compared on a computer. Motorcycle model is almost non-existent in the stats. The stats are very hard to dispute when it comes to age. My sense of what was going on is that the young kill themselves off at the same high rate they always have. The guys in the middle go up and down in the stats without a whole lot of rhyme or reason (generally down over the last few years that data was available), us geezers are just getting wacked more each year. I really don't know how the author came to the conclusion that it was degrading reaction time. It may be a factor but there is no data to back that up. As long as there is no data to back up anything, I'll throw my theory out there. Older guys just have the money now they didn't have when they were young so they can afford a bike. The bike makes one seem macho. Just because you can afford one doesn't mean you know how to ride one. Once you reach a certain age and have accomplished, at least in your mind, lots of stuff, you believe you can figure out something as simple as riding a bike. Not a good conclusion. IMO, and in about 50 years of driving 2 and 4 wheels, the roads are more dangerous now that at any time in my driving experience. Put a geezer without adequate training on two wheels in a motorcycle unfriendly environment, viola you have dead geezers on the rise. Just my 2 cents worth.
