The mobility transition is fundamentally changing the landscape on Germany’s roads. More and more people are switching to electrically assisted two-wheelers for everyday use or leisure. However, this ongoing boom has a grim downside, as a recent analysis by the German Road Safety Council (DVR) – based on data from the Federal Statistical Office for the 2025 transport year – shows: the number of serious and fatal accidents involving e-bikes is rising dramatically. Whilst conventional car traffic has become increasingly safer over the decades, this new form of two-wheeled mobility is showing worrying negative trends.
Double-digit rise in the death toll
The raw figures on accidents highlight the urgency of the situation. In 2025, 217 people lost their lives whilst riding a pedelec in Germany. Compared with the previous year (195 fatalities), this represents a significant increase of eleven per cent. The statistics also show an increase in the number of seriously injured people: this figure rose by around four per cent, from 4,852 in 2024 to 5,064 the following year. In light of this trend, DVR President Manfred Wirsch describes it as a “wake-up call” and calls on the federal government, the states and local authorities to take decisive action to counter it.
However, experts emphasise that these figures must be viewed in the context of the market. The rise in accidents correlates directly with the rapid increase in pedelec sales: e-bikes now significantly outnumber sales of conventional bicycles. And the more people switch to these faster electric bikes, the higher the risk in mixed traffic is bound to be.
Declining sales of traditional bikes
A direct comparison with other forms of transport shows just how specific this trend is to electric two-wheelers. Whilst e-bikes are increasingly involved in serious accidents, the figures for conventional bicycles without an auxiliary motor are falling slightly: here, the number of fatalities fell from 250 to 245, whilst the number of seriously injured fell by seven per cent. However, these falling accident figures also reflect market realities: sales of non-motorised bicycles have been in sharp decline for years. As fewer and fewer traditional ‘non-electric bikes’ are being put on the road, their share of accidents is consequently also falling.
Looking at the overall statistics for road deaths in Germany – which total around 2,800 victims per year – two-wheeled vehicles nevertheless account for a different proportion compared with motorised private transport. For example, around 1,200 to 1,400 people die in passenger cars each year. Although the trend for motorbikes is positive – the number of motorcyclists killed fell by eight per cent to 474 in 2025 – the risk for this group remains disproportionately high compared to their overall share of road traffic. Only e-scooters share the fate of pedelecs, recording a significant increase of 19 per cent in fatalities (32 fatalities in 2025).
Calls for better infrastructure
The DVR believes that it is primarily up to politicians to reverse the trend regarding pedelecs. Unlike with e-scooters, where the focus of discussion is primarily on stricter regulations and age limits, the key to addressing the issue with pedelecs lies primarily in infrastructure. As pedelec riders generally reach higher speeds than conventional cyclists, the DVR is calling for physically separated, continuous cycle paths that are consistently kept free from other traffic.
If it is not possible to physically separate cyclists from motor vehicles, the maximum speed limit for motorised traffic must be reduced in order to minimise the risk of serious collisions. Furthermore, the association highlights the urgent need to make junctions safer and to ensure that cycle paths are reliably maintained and cleaned throughout the year. Only by adapting roads to the new reality of the mobility transition can we prevent the dream of environmentally friendly travel from becoming a safety risk.
Josh Welz
Editor-in-Chief
