Well, first of all, the fact that deaths increased by 26% among riders 50 and over might not mean much. If, for example, that means an increase of 50 deaths, or 200, or whatever, it does not tell you how much the use of bikes by people 50 and over increased in the same period. That is, ridership might have increased 50%, in which case a 26% increase in the absolute number of deaths is actually pretty good. I'd like to see a more detailed analysis.
However, I was at Laguna Seca, talking to some reps from a motorcycle company, while I looked at a 100HP bike that handles well, but that is often seen by bike mags as "not good or powerful enough" and I said to them that I thought the overwhelming majority of the bikers today has too much bike, that we usually don't get anywhere near the limits of our bikes. And they both said at the same time "Oh, we know that...". We discussed safety and they agreed that too often someone who either never rode a bike or rode a 175cc Honda 30 years ago, goes into a showroom and makes a totally crazy choice (GSXR1000, Hayyabusa, CBR954, etc.), which could easily get him killed, simply because at 50 that person now has the dough. Salespeople often do not discourage this enough. As an example, on my way up to Laguna Seca I left behind a pair of brand new Suzuki GSXR 750 (matching color, matching brand new one-piece leathers) and a brand new Honda CBR600 (still with dealer's plate) on the curvy Hwy 1, because their riders could not take a curve at a decent speed if their life depended on it (lots of panic braking, changing lines, etc.), and, in the case of the Honda looked positively unsafe. BTW, I am 52 (so don't think I am biased against older riders) and I ride a Nighthawk 750. I have been riding for quite a while, too.
I would encourage everyone who starts again in his middle age to buy a cheap used, not so powerful bike and re-learn the basics and not-so-basics, then you can buy whatever the heck you want. And, if you find out that biking is not for you, you re-sell the used bike with a minimal loss.