The increased popularity of bicycles, partly driven by the e-bike boom, means people are relying more on cycling for daily commuting. Accident statistics reflect this trend. According to preliminary figures released by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) on Monday, in 2025, cycling was responsible for the deaths of one in six road users (16.4%).
Overall, 462 cyclists died in accidents last year. This included 217 fatalities involving a pedelec (colloquially known as an e-bike). This number marks a 3.8% increase in total deaths for cyclists compared to the previous year, and a 20.6% rise since 2015. This increase is largely attributed to pedelec users, whose fatalities jumped from 36 in 2015 to an estimated 195 in 2024, and reaching 217 in 2025.
In broader terms, the total number of traffic deaths was 1.8% higher than in 2024, though it remains 18.4% lower than the figure recorded in 2015.
Age remains a primary factor in risk. In 2025, 61.5% of fatal cyclist accident victims were aged 65 or older. While this rate was 56.3% for cyclists using non-motorized bicycles, it climbed to 67.3% among those killed while using pedelecs.
Concerning accident circumstances, two-thirds of ninety-five thousand, seven hundred ninety-four reported bicycle accidents involving personal injury involved a second party. In nearly 70% of these cases, the involved person was driving a car (44,463 accidents).
Only about one-third (31.1%) of the reported bicycle accidents were single-rider incidents. When another vehicle was involved, cyclists were deemed primarily responsible in almost three out of ten instances (28.6%). However, fault attribution differs based on the opponent. Cyclists were most often held mainly responsible in collisions with pedestrians (58.1%). In collisions with mopeds, the cyclist was responsible in about half the cases (54.7%). When cars were involved, the cyclist was primarily at fault in 25.3% of cases. For accidents involving goods vehicles, this rate was slightly lower, at 21.4%.
Regarding injuries, 2025 saw 1,038 accidents involving one person walking and one on a pedelec. A further 3,399 accidents involved one pedestrian and one on a standard, non-motorized bicycle. Injuries were observed to be more severe in pedelec-related accidents. For every 100 accidents involving pedelecs and a pedestrian, statisticians reported an average of 16 serious injuries and 119 minor injuries, but no fatalities. In contrast, for 100 accidents involving standard bicycles and a pedestrian, there were recorded 0.2 fatalities, 14 serious injuries, and 110 minor injuries.
