Data collected from 32 billion miles of journeys in battery-powered cars and 3 trillion miles of journeys in petrol and diesel cars in the UK has revealed that, mile for mile, electric and hybrid vehicles had the twice as likely to hit pedestrians compared to vehicles with internal combustion engines. This figure increased to 2.5 times more likely in urban areas.
The study, carried out by researchers at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), analyzed Road Safety (STATS19) data sets containing all reports of pedestrians injured in collisions with cars or taxis in Great Britain between 2013 and 2017. .
The data sets revealed that of the 96,285 pedestrians who had been hit by a car or taxi, 74% of them were hit by a gasoline or diesel car, while only 2% were hit by an electric or hybrid car. .
However, the researchers calculated that the average annual pedestrian casualty rate per 100 million miles for electric or hybrid electric cars and taxis was twice as likely as accidents with gasoline or diesel engines, with figures equivalent to 5.16 accidents per 100 million miles for electric vehicles. and hybrids, and only 2.40 for gasoline or diesel cars and/or taxis.
Phil Edwards, Professor of Epidemiology and Statistics at LSHTM, believes the main reason behind the statistics is simply because electric and hybrid cars are quieter than their petrol or diesel counterparts.
“Given the detrimental effects of air pollution caused by petrol and diesel cars, it is almost certain that electric cars overall are better for our health, but our research shows that more needs to be done to reduce the risk that pose to pedestrians, especially in noisy urban environments,” Edwards said in the new report.
Although the statistics were based on traffic accidents in the United Kingdom, a 2017 study by the US Department of Transportation found that electric and hybrid cars posed a 20% greater risk to pedestrians than gasoline-powered cars. diesel, and a 50% higher risk during off-peak hours. speed movements, such as turning, reversing, merging into traffic and stopping, according to The Guardian.
Analysis: the sound of silence
The study by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) only looked at UK travel and road accident data from 2013 to 2017, and the paper's lead author, Phil Edwards, said the 2018 figures were not available due to “a file problem.”
Since July 2019, all new hybrid and electric vehicles sold in Europe must be equipped by law with an external acoustic system that plays a sound when the electric vehicle in question is operating at low speeds. Due to the lack of accident data, it is difficult to say whether incidents involving pedestrians have been reduced by this initiative.
What's more, there are substantially more electric and hybrid vehicles on the roads now than in 2017, when the statistics used by the article's authors were exhausted. Although we have no empirical data to support this, we predict that pedestrians are likely now more aware of quieter electric and hybrid vehicles than they were seven years ago.
“If you're going to go for an electric car, remember it's a new type of vehicle,” Phil Edward told The Guardian. “They are much quieter than older cars and pedestrians have learned to navigate the streets listening to the traffic. Drivers of these vehicles must be very careful.” Good advice, we would say.
