The number of people over 70 who have died in a bicycle accident has increased by 68 percent in the past twenty years, reports the Central Bureau of Statistics after an analysis for the period 1999-2019. The increase is due to the fact that the Netherlands has more and more people over 70, but also because they are cycling more and more, partly thanks to the e-bike.
Last year, 59 percent of all bicycle deaths were 70 or older. Among all other age groups, the number of cyclists killed has actually decreased in the past twenty years, among young people up to 30 years even by 64 percent.
The number of bicycle deaths fluctuated around 200 per year between 1999 and 2019, but the average age of the victims has increased considerably.
Autododen
It is noteworthy that the number of deaths in car traffic fell sharply in the same period, from 587 in 1999 to 237 last year. That’s a 60 percent drop. The lowest number of car fatalities was measured in 2014, when there were 187. After that, the number increased again.
21 percent of car fatalities are 70 or older. The largest group here are young people up to 30 years old. They are heavily overrepresented at 35 percent.
Measures
Statistics Netherlands points out that many measures have been taken in the past twenty years to improve road safety, such as a stricter approach to drink-driving, the driver’s license and the ban on holding a phone while driving.
Although the number of deaths on bicycles and in cars has become close to one another over the years, the car is relatively much safer than the bicycle. Last year, an average of 1.6 people died in the car per billion kilometers driven, while an average of 11 cyclists were killed at that distance.
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