Through the years I have not known a lot of guys who ride bikes, but out of the ones I've known 4 were in fatal accidents.  Only one was wearing a helmet, he drove his Honda CB350 under a power pole guy-wire that caught him under the chin.  He ran off the road to avoid a car that pulled out in front of him, he was 16. The other three middle aged and all went off the road in solo incidents without helmets and died of head injuries.  Of those three two were Harleys and one was a moped that the guy was checking out for his son. I know lots of people who drive cars but have never personally know one to die or even get seriously injured in a car accident.

The county I live in is fairly rural with lots of nice country roads and most motorcyclists here appear to ride Harleys.  Many of the Harley riders wear no protective gear other than boots and they account for many of the local fatalities.  In the most recent incident a man was riding with his wife on the back, he had no helmet but she did.  There was a collision and he died, she lived.  

Wear a helmet.

From your link:

I. No person shall transport a child under age 6 in the bed of a pickup truck (not exceeding ¾ ton). T.C.A. §55-8-189(a).
II. No person shall transport on any interstate defense highway or State highway a child age 6-11 in a pickup truck (not exceeding ¾ ton). T.C.A. §55-8-189(b)(1). Note: A city or county may establish this same prohibition on its roads or highways. T.C.A. §55-8-189(b)(2).

Can't ride in a truck bed under age 6. Can't ride in a truck between 6-11 years old (on the highway). Huh?

So older than 6 can ride in the bed but not in the truck until they are older than 11? Am I reading this right?  

Most of the bike related problems that I see on the news around here involve speed, alcohol, inexperienced riders......or other vehicles that pull into their path.

A few months ago I went on a poker run.  We started at a bar and drew a card out of a deck and it was recorded on our registration and given back to us.  This took a little while....so lot of drinking occurred.  We then left in a group of about 80 bikes and rode to another bar.  We drew another card...more waiting....more drinking.  This continued for about 3 hours....and 5 stops at bars.  Most likely that will be the last Poker Run I ever attend, as I won't drink when I am riding my motorcycle....and I really am not a fan of the type of neighborhood bars we stopped at (Somehow they smell worse in the heat of the day and look worse in daylight).

There is a group of sport bike riders around here that meet on Saturday/Sunday mornings and go for "too fast" rides.  They bend their license plates up out of sight, then ride fast and lose riders on a regular basis.  Thank goodness when I was young I got my thrills by riding fast in the dirt, where a fall never really caused much more than a scraped elbow and tweaked forks.

A neighbor has a friend that rides an older Harley.....lots of miles, oil seeps on engine, not pretty - but ridden daily to and from work.  The guy is an experienced rider, and he was sitting at a traffic light waiting for his turn.  An old guy in a large car came around the corners and banged into his bike with a corner of the fender/bumper and knocked the biker down onto the pavement....and the car kept going.  The biker does not wear a helmet, and when his head hit the pavement he got a concussion and ended up in the hospital for a week......he most likely would have been fine if he had been wearing a helmet.  They eventually found the old guy in the car - it took a week for them to track him down.