With its research report "Accident risk of pedelec riders", the UDV provides an insight into accident research in cycling. With regard to the e-bike trend, the results do not indicate a significantly increased risk when riding motorised bicycles compared to conventional bicycles.
With the results from 2019, the report follows on from the pedelec accident analysis from 2015. Over the four years, not only has the number of pedelecs sold increased, but also the number of riders involved in accidents. The analysis includes the number of accidents with reference to the different age groups as well as the riding performance-related accident risk. The accident results were compared with non-motorised bicycle accidents.
More accidents with the pedelec?
If you look at the final result, you realise that there are hardly any differences between accidents involving pedelecs and classic bicycles. Overall, however, there is a slightly higher risk when riding a pedelec. In the event of an accident, pedelec riders tend to be slightly more seriously injured than cyclists. Just under one in four (24.7%) are even seriously injured. The figure is 7% lower for accidents involving a bicycle. If you look at the fatalities in the statistics, you can see that the proportion of pedelec riders involved in accidents (1.1%) is twice as high as that of cyclists (0.5%).
Age structure for accidents
An analysis of the age structure reveals that the largest proportion of pedelec accidents (62%) occur in the over 55 age group. For cyclists, the proportion of accidents in this group is only 36%. However, this group of people also travels on average only 69% of the kilometres covered by a pedelec rider of this age.
The greatest mileage-related risk for cyclists is for 18-24 year olds. This is calculated taking into account the kilometres ridden in the various age groups. 18-24 year olds are involved in cycling accidents 3.3 times more frequently than the proportion of kilometres ridden would suggest. The age groups over 80 (2.51 times) and 25-34 (1.96 times) also show an increased risk. In comparison with the pedelec, these values are significantly higher. With a value of 1.96, the 80+ age group has the highest mileage-related risk with the pedelec.
Proposals for more safety
The study authors make a number of recommendations for safer cycling. They see a major problem in the safety of cycling facilities and would also like to see a stronger link between motor assistance and muscular performance. In addition to cycle helmets, pedelec courses and counselling sessions would also be a useful aid.
You can download the complete results of the study here view.
Lukas Niebuhr
Working student
