The Federal Statistical Office has published alarming figures. The number of Pedelec accidents resulting in personal injury has increased tenfold. And the victims are getting younger and younger.
E-bikes are popular – this is shown in various statistics (source: ivonnewierink/depositphotos.com)
- The Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) has published current figures on accidents involving e-bikes.
- Accordingly, the number of Pedelec accidents resulting in personal injury has increased more than tenfold compared to 2014.
- Around a third of the people who had an e-bike accident in 2023 were younger than 45 years.
The e-bike has become an integral part of our everyday lives. For the first time in 2023, according to ZIV, slightly more Pedelecs were sold than bicycles. Many people had already feared that there would be an increase in accidents in this context. And the figures now published by Destatis also prove it.
But the statistics clear up one prejudice: it is not primarily older people who are now having accidents on motorized Pedelecs after a long period of abstinence from two-wheeled vehicles.
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“In 2014, more than half (54.5 percent) of the users of such a Pedelec – often colloquially referred to as an e-bike – who had an accident were at least 65 years old, but in 2023 it was only a third (30, 1 percent). 2 percent). For comparison: In the case of accidents on non-motorized bicycles, one or one in six accident victims was 65 or older. More than half (54.8 percent) were younger than 45 years.”
Because e-bikes are so popular, the number of accidents is continually increasing. In 2023, police and authorities registered 23,900 e-bike accidents that resulted in personal injuries. In 2014 there were “only” 2,200.
This is how the number of accidents involving bicycles and pedelecs is developing. (Source: Destatis)
Things look slightly different in the “organic bikes” camp. While 76,600 people had accidents with their bicycles in 2014, in 2023 there were around 72,200 people. Only since 2014 have accidents involving bicycles and pedelecs been recorded separately by the police.
E-bike accidents are more often fatal
It is difficult to say generally whether e-bikes or pedelecs are generally more dangerous than bicycles. Last year, there were an average of 7.9 deaths in one thousand e-bike accidents with personal injuries. Non-motorized bicycles resulted in 3.6 deaths. But the Federal Statistical Office states:
People who were injured or killed on a Pedelec were on average 53 years old and therefore, despite the falling average age, older than those injured on a non-motorized bicycle, who were on average 42 years old. Older people are more likely to be seriously or fatally injured in a fall than younger people.
DeStatis
What is striking in this context, however, is that the number of people who have fatal accidents with an e-bike per thousand Pedelec accidents resulting in personal injury has decreased significantly in recent years: in 2014 there were 17.4 people killed per 1,000 Pedelec accidents compared to 7.9 people killed in 2023. According to Destatis, this is also due, among other things, to the decreasing age of those involved in the accident. We will introduce you to the latest e-bike and bicycle innovations here.
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