Geschatte leestijd: 3 minuten
Is the e-bike dangerous? There’s been an increase in the number of fatal accidents among cyclists. The number of accidents involving e-bikes is disproportionately high. However, there are more reasons to be concerned about the increased popularity.
The e-bike dangerous: more fatal accidents
Today we received good and bad news about the number of fatal accidents in traffic in 2017. The total number of fatal accidents decreased by 2.5% compared to 2016. However, the number of fatal accidents among cyclists has increased. The number of cyclists killed (206) was even higher than the number of motorists killed (201) for the first time.
This increase in fatal accidents among cyclists is mainly attributed to the increased popularity of the e-bike. A quarter of the cyclists killed were riding an e-bike. According to estimates by Statistics Netherlands (CBS), only 8% of the nearly 23 million bicycles have an electric motor. So, it’s fair to say that the e-bike is quite overrepresented in the number of fatal accidents.
Furthermore, we can see another overrepresentation, namely the number of elderly among the deceased e-bikers. Elderly people and those with physical limitations can, in some cases, continue cycling longer thanks to the e-bike. However, they are more vulnerable, which increases the risk of fatal accidents. Another common cause of accidents involving e-bikes is the difference in speed with other traffic.
E-bike a good alternative?
Personally, I’m not a big fan of e-bikes. Partly for a silly, subjective reason.
I sometimes find it very odd to see a young, healthy man, sitting on a sporty bike, being overtaken left and right by members of the local knitting club. Optically, that’s just a bit strange. Especially because you don’t always immediately recognize an e-bike as such. But that bruised pride is of course no reason to ban the e-bike. What worries me more are the potential consequences for the average activity level in the Netherlands. The Dutch cycling culture is one that many foreign medical professionals should be proud of. Half an hour of cycling a day is already enough to meet most
guidelines for the amount of exercise. Fortunately, no school bus comes to pick up our children every day.
In the case of the elderly, we see that the e-bike can help prolong this healthy activity. Research by TNO showed that replacing the car with the e-bike proves to be a successful and practical method for meeting the guidelines for exercise. However, these are all
nice examples of the e-bike to get people cycling. But what if you were already cycling and now switch to the e-bike?
My 17-year-old daughter attends the same high school in Purmerend where I spent my high school years. Just like in my time, there are children in her class who come from the neighboring village of De Rijp. Just like in my time, they, like most of the class, cycle to school. However, unlike my time, half of them now come on e-bikes. Now, I must admit I wasn’t envious of my classmates who cycled for more than an hour a day in winter. Yet another reason to be in favor of the e-bike. For those poor village kids.
E-bike the end of a healthy cycling culture?
That excuse doesn’t apply to another classmate of my daughter who also comes on an e-bike. He lives around the corner from the school and is, in my daughter’s words, ‘spoiled and lazy’. Words with which many elderly would describe the entire youth. Certain conveniences that were unthinkable in their time are now indispensable.
I can still remember when it was weird to give your 13-year-old a mobile phone. Now it’s almost child abuse if you don’t. How long will it be until your child comes back crying from a school trip because he/she was the only one without an e-bike? And how will those e-bikes themselves further develop? With improvements in battery and motor efficiency, it becomes possible to provide more and more electric assistance for longer periods of time. Should we be afraid that in ten years we’ll laughingly recall the time when we still moved our legs on a bike?
I hope not. You could call that hypocritical considering I ride a bike with 4 cylinders and 600cc.
