Zhu Jian'an, Dai Shuai, Zhu Xinyu
(Road Traffic Safety Research Center of the Ministry of Public Security, Beijing 100062, China)

Abstract： The fast increasing popularity of electric bikes in China has generated serious safety concerns. By analyzing the accident data of electric bikes and other travel modes, this paper summarizes the characteristics of electric bike accidents in several aspects: traffic safety trends, time and space features, contributing factors, attributes of violator and victim and etc. It is concluded that the number of fatalities caused by electric-bike accidents has increased at a relatively fast speed in recent years, and majority of such accidents were caused by violations of traffic laws and regulations. The analysis also indicates that a relatively high fatality rate correlates with high number of knowingly violators, and intersections as well as morning and evening peak hours. The cyclist characteristics clearly reveal that mid- and old-age group, workers and farmers are major victim groups, and craniocerebral injuries are the primary cause of death. Finally, the paper puts forward future safety enhancement strategies for electric-bike in China based on the accident contributing factors and actual management practice.

Keywords： traffic safety; electric bikes; accident characteristics; enhancement strategies