Bicycles and pedelecs more frequently involved in work accidents, data shows
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BG Verkehr, the German Professional Association for Transport, Postal Logistics and Telecommunications, has evaluated reportable work and business accidents among its insured persons. It found that pedelecs and bicycles are the second-most frequently involved in work accidents.
Random analysis of data by BG Verkehr inspected reportable work and business accidents that occurred between July 2022 and June 2023. A total of 7,650 extrapolated accidents were recorded, with 6,388 being minor accidents not requiring inpatient hospitalization. 42 of the accidents ended in death.
Following cars with the largest share of accidents at 31%, bicycles and pedelecs (e-bikes) accounted for 23%. The remaining data is accounted for by trucks, vans, and buses.
In BG Verkehr’s member companies, bicycles and pedelecs are used in various scenarios including postal and courier services and grocery deliveries. In recent years, the number of pedelecs has increased.
Single-vehicle accidents
“What strikes us about bicycles and pedelecs is the high proportion of single-vehicle accidents,” says Martin Küppers, Head of Regulations and Occupational Safety at BG Verkehr. Single-vehicle accidents are defined as road accidents in which no other party is involved, such as falls or leaving the road. Across all categories, the proportion of single-vehicle accidents is 34%; however, in scenarios where bicycles and pedelecs are used, it is significantly higher. Of the 643 accidents in food delivery, for example, bicycles or pedelecs were involved in 583 cases. Two-thirds of these were single-vehicle accidents.
Even if many accidents on two wheels can be explained by difficult weather or road conditions, the analysis shows that the main cause of accidents is personal. “In order to make our policyholders more aware of the dangers of cycling and pedelecs, we will be actively participating in the German Road Safety Council’s (DVR) focus campaign this year, which has the motto ‘Safe cycling mobility on work and business trips’,” announces Dr. Nadia Schilling, head of the Road Safety Division at BG Verkehr. Among other initiatives, a campaign is planned for the nationwide Road Safety Day on 21 June. Roadworthy bicycles and training in their use will ensure greater safety. “This is only trivial at first glance. The driving physics of a two-wheeler with a transport box or backpack on the back is completely different to what most cyclists are used to,” warns Küppers.
One bright spot for users of two-wheelers is that the proportion of serious and fatal accidents is very low. Trucks caused 488 of these cases, followed by cars (320), vans up to 3.5t (173), bicycles (84) and pedelecs (46).
685 insurance cases from the study period were randomly sampled and investigated. In the extrapolation, this corresponds to 7,650 accidents. The extrapolation factors come from the DGUV occupational accident statistics.