When I was sixteen, I kept asking my Dad if I could get a motorcycle. Fun to ride, saves money on gas, etc. Then my cousin, who was a year older than me, went around a corner, didn't see the loose gravel on the road and wiped out, paralyzing his right arm. Was he going too fast? Probably as many 18 year old do. Should he have seen the loose gravel? Maybe, maybe not.
Either way, it ended any chance of my Dad allowing me to get a motorcycle. After the death of a kid in school, once I was 18, I no longer had the urge.
I drive a lot. I take about 16 regular ten hour trips per year as well as other trips and local driving. After seeing how many people text and drive, no chance I'd ever ride a motorcycle. As detail75 said, it's not a death sentence, but you also can't fight physics.