Pedelecs represent a new form of mobility and are currently enjoying great popularity. With the growing number of pedelecs, however, the potential for conflicts also increases. In this article, accidents involving pedelecs are analyzed and compared with accidents involving conventional bicycles using accident statistics (2014–2017). It shows that pedelec accidents are more severe than accidents involving conventional bicycles. With a relatively constant total number of bicycle accidents (sum of both vehicles), increasing pedelec participation leads to a smaller decrease in severe accidents. Pedelec users are more likely to have single accidents and more likely to have accidents in rural areas (where they are even more likely to be fatal). In addition, the mean age of injured and in particular of killed pedelec users is higher than that of injured or killed users of conventional bicycles. The analyses thus prove that there are new challenges for road safety work for which these data could serve as a basis. (Author/publisher)
Samenvatting