The popularity of the electric bike and the growing population of elderly people using them increases the number of fatal accidents /HH

Last year for the first time the Netherlands counted more bicycle accidents than car accidents. In 2017 206 bike-riders died, 17 more than in 2016, while the number of fatalities in car traffic decreased from 321 to 201. An explanation for these figures? The e-bike, age, the smartphone, badly maintained road surface… and many other reasons.

Safety

For traffic experts the increase of lethal bike accidents is not a surprise, and the popularity of the e-bike is the main reason for it. Besides, the number of people killed in a car accidents has been going down steadily for years, where the number of lethal bike accidents hardly decreases.

Cars are becoming more and more safe but the safety of a bicycle has its limits. “Riding a bike, however, has become safer”, says Peter van der Knaap, CEO of the foundation of scientific research of traffic safety (Stichting Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek Verkeersveiligheid, SWOV), “especially when you compare the growing number of kilometres by bike to the number of accidents.”

Physical abilities

The e-bike is popular among older people and we do have more older people, that’s a demographic fact, so it is not surprising that there are more accidents with an e-bike. It is not known yet whether older people ride too hard or underestimate their own declining physical abilities.

“What we do know, though”, says Van der Knaap, “is that in singular accidents often the badly maintained road surface is to blame.” According to the SWOV and the union for bikers (Fietsersbond) the first issue on the list of possible causes for accidents is infrastructure: bad road surfaces and crowded bike paths. On the second place sits the biker’s behaviour, and on the third place the safety and stability of the bike itself is mentioned.

Quality and safety of bike paths

So, as it’s difficult to improve the safety of the bike itself, both organizations call up everybody to help making bike-riding safer. According to SWOV “we need to invest in the quality and safety of bike paths”. Also financial support for e-bike-riding courses could be useful. Fietersbond already gives similar lessons and wants to expand its offer.

Fietsers bovenaan bij verkeersdoden

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