In the Netherlands ebikes are a game changer because many people can now commute between cities on a bike (bike lanes are alongside motorways too). But they are so fast! There’s been an increase in dangerous accidents with them, particularly among the older generations.
Legal ebikes in the EU stop their electrical motor at 25 km/h. You can go faster, but only as much as you would with a regular bike, ie by pedaling. Therefore ebikes are not the problem as such, illegal vehicles are the problem.
> In 2022, at least 578 road accidents killed at least one, in 2019 there were 522. The number of accidents with at least one injured person has also increased considerably: in 2019 there were 18,298, in 2022 no less than 21,455. According to the police, the e-bike appears to play a greater role, especially with people over fifty. The figures do not necessarily mean that cyclists on an e-bike caused the accident, but it is important to see where the increase comes from.
I've been cycling for 45 years, and I don't think that the addition of a small pedal-assist motor has changed my cycling style at all. I'm just willing to take on 100km journeys or mountain roads that I previously considered to be too much effort. My speed also hasn't changed that much either, unless you're looking at my uphill speed.
But the arrival of relatively cheap ebikes has changed the demographics of cycling in a very short time. Lots of people with little-to-no road experience or etiquette are now zipping around at up to 25kmh. These will definitely appear as a spike on the accident graph, but for pedelec I'd expect that to drop a little over time.
However I still think that pure throttle bikes and scooters that can exceed 25kmh are dangerous though. Particularly the scooter which has the image of a "toy" to a lot of people. I'm really not kidding when I say that I've seen 10 year olds on serious scooters, reaching 40kmh on walkways. That's always gonna be a problem.
Most of the kids I see on scooters and bikes aren't legal. I have no idea where the kids are getting them because they're not "pedelec". You push a button and accelerate up to 40kmh. They're essentially electric mopeds and they require a driving license here (and anywhere in the EU I believe) which makes them illegal for under 16s to ride them.
Electrification is great but it has risks too.