As Mark Twain once said, "There are lies, damned lies, and statistics."
When someone first starts riding, they are clueless and hazardous. New riders account for a large number of crashes simply because they have not developed the correct automatic reflexes and don't know what is dangerous nor what can or cannot be done.
Most experienced riders are a bit safer because they have survived enough incidents to have programmed their reactions more or less corectly and have a good feel for what they can do without getting hurt.
There is a next stage where overly experienced riders start thinking they are really great at this and can do what they damn well please. If they survive the results and learn that they aren't gods afterall, they will move back to stage 2 and be safe again.
