Abstract
Background
E-bikes are increasingly popular and seen as a crucial component of sustainable urban mobility. However, past studies have raised safety concerns, suggesting e-bikes may carry a higher crash risk than conventional bicycles due to factors such as speed, weight, and user inexperience. These conclusions have largely relied on limited or non-representative data, often lacking accurate exposure adjustments.
Methods
This study leverages two unique and complementary datasets from the capital region of Norway:
1. The 2023 National Travel Behaviour Survey (TBS) regional subsample, with ∼8000 respondents and ∼1000 recorded bicycle trips—one-third by e-bike.
2. E-bike specific crash data from emergency wards, collected as part of the CyWalk project from May to October 2024 in Oslo. The datasets are matched to estimate distance-adjusted injury risk for e-bikes compared to conventional bicycles, using robust travel behavior and crash data.
Results
Preliminary analyses show that, contrary to earlier findings, e-bikes have a lower risk of injury per kilometer traveled than conventional bikes. This trend is particularly strong in summer months, when cycling volumes are highest. The results challenge common assumptions and highlight the need to reassess how e-bike safety is perceived and communicated.
Conclusions
Our findings, based on representative exposure and real crash data, suggest that e-bikes are not only safe, but potentially safer than conventional bicycles under typical urban conditions—especially in high-volume cycling periods. These insights are critical for transport planning and policy tools such as the WHO’s Health Economic Assessment Tool (HEAT), which depend on accurate risk estimates to guide investment in active mobility.
Key messages
• E-bikes have a lower injury risk per kilometer than conventional bikes, challenging previous assumptions.
• The risk advantage of e-bikes is especially clear during summer, when cycling volumes are highest.
Topic
Cycling, e-bikes, accidents