Status: 09/21/2021 10:54 a.m.
More and more private households are owning an electric bike: There are now seven million e-bikes on the road in this country. Because the number of accidents is on the rise, experts are calling for better driver training courses.
During the corona pandemic, more and more electric bicycles were bought in Germany. As reported by the Federal Statistical Office, there were around 1.2 million of these vehicles in German private households at the beginning of the year, 20 percent more than in the previous year. Overall, the statisticians counted around 7.1 million electric bicycles in households, after 5.9 million at the beginning of 2020. These were distributed among almost 5.1 million households. This means that around every eighth household (13 percent) in Germany owned at least one electric bicycle. At the beginning of 2020, it was still every ninth household.
A question of income
Two thirds of households currently only own one e-bike. Only one in three households (34 percent) already has two electric bicycles. However, the equipment is heavily dependent on income. In households with a monthly net income of less than 2500 euros, only around every eleventh household (nine percent) had an electric bicycle. In households with a monthly income of more than 3500 euros, there was at least one electric bicycle in every fifth household (20 percent). In total, around 30 million households owned bicycles or electric bicycles at the beginning of 2021. That corresponded to 79 percent of all households in Germany.
Along with the growth in e-bikes, the number of accidents has also increased. According to the figures from the Federal Statistical Office, more people died in road accidents with an e-bike than ever before. In the period from January to December there were a total of 142 people – 20 percent more than a year earlier. It is particularly noticeable that this happened in a year with less traffic than usual. The total number of accidents was also lower than in 2019.
Appeal to bike shops
Kurt Bodewig, President of the Deutsche Verkehrswacht DVW, therefore calls for more driver training for people who are out on an e-bike for the first time. Older people in particular, who discovered cycling for themselves, had initial difficulties with the electric drive, he told the portal “Elektrofahrrad24.de”. He appealed to bike shops to explain to their customers in detail how an e-bike works and what needs to be considered when using it. That includes a corresponding test drive. Bodewig also promotes the wearing of a bicycle helmet.
According to a report by the auditing company DEKRA, a good half of the pedelec riders killed in Germany in 2019 were over 75 years old. According to the report, the causes of accidents include several age-related phenomena such as decreased eyesight, poor sense of balance and decreased general physical abilities.