A German physician suspects drunk cycling has played a role in a rash of injuries in his town.

But Christian Juhra, a trauma physician in Munster, Germany, can’t be certain alcohol was a contributor in the series of crashes in 2009-10 because it appears not everyone is willing to admit when they’re drunk and in charge of a bicycle.

Most of the injured cyclists taken to hospital that year, Juhra said, refused to answer whether they had been drinking before the crash. And short of doing a breathalyzer test, there was no way of telling whether they had.

One case was clear: a hospital physiologist died after leaving a party and falling off his bike.

But Juhra, who was referring to a study done that year, suspects the injured cyclists were also drinking, based on the fact most of them were aged 21-29 and the accidents happened on the weekends.

“They were in the early morning hours and usually during the weekends so alcohol was involved,” Juhra told delegates at the weeklong Velo-City conference, an international cycling conference which kicked off in Vancouver on Tuesday.

Juhra noted alcohol limits in Germany are higher for cyclists than for drivers, and there is no cut-off for cycling drinkers in the city’s bars.

Bicycle laws vary across the world when it comes to drinking and cycling.

In California, for instance, drunk cyclists can be slapped with a DUI and charged roughly $250.

In Vancouver and Toronto, a study by University of B.C. researchers in 2009-10 found 10 per cent of the cyclists taken to five hospitals in the two cities reported they had used alcohol, said researcher Meghan Winters.

About 3.5 per cent admitted they used recreational drugs.

ksinoski@vancouversun.com