Electric vehicles are twice as deadly to pedestrians as gas or diesel-powered vehicles

Pedestrians are twice as likely to be hit by an electric or hybrid vehicle than those powered by gasoline or diesel. This was revealed by a study published in The BMJ magazine, which is linked to the British Medical Association. According to the study, the risk occurs because this type of car is quieter.

The research was carried out between 2013 and 2017 but the results were published this week. It found that between those years there were 916,713 victims of traffic collisions in Great Britain. Of them, 120,197 were pedestrians and 96,285 of them were hit by a private car or taxi.

Most collisions took place in urban areas. A higher proportion of them involved electric or hybrid vehicles than gasoline/diesel vehicles: 94% versus 88%. This contrasts with 6% and 12%, respectively, in rural areas.

The study explains that "from this data, the researchers calculate that between 2013 and 2017, the average annual rate of pedestrian victims per 160 million kilometers traveled on the road was 5.16 for electric and hybrid vehicles and 2.40 for petrol and diesel vehicles."

"This indicates that collisions with pedestrians were, on average, twice as likely with electric and hybrid vehicles as they were with petrol and diesel vehicles, and three times as likely in urban areas than in rural areas, say the researchers."

In addition, the research highlighted that it was evident that younger and less experienced drivers are more likely to be involved in a traffic collision and are also more likely to own an electric car.

"To this end, they conclude that the heightened safety risk posed to pedestrians by electric and hybrid cars needs to be mitigated as governments proceed to phase out petrol and diesel cars," BMJ magazine points out.