Electric cars are not involved in more accidents than other cars. Not even though electric cars are quieter, according to the Danish Road Directorate.
The Danish Road Directorate does not believe that electric cars pose an increased danger in traffic despite their quiet nature.
The idea that electric cars are more dangerous for cyclists and pedestrians because they make less noise is described as a myth.
According to an analysis from the Danish Road Directorate, electric cars and plug-in hybrid cars are no more involved in traffic accidents than other cars.
The authority writes this in a press release .
The study is based on all police-registered traffic accidents involving electric cars and plug-in hybrid cars in the period from 2019 to 2023.
During that period, electric cars and plug-in hybrid cars were involved in five percent of all accidents with fatalities and injuries. This is 66 personal injury accidents.
Electric cars are no more dangerous than petrol and diesel cars
During the same period, electric cars and plug-in hybrid cars made up about five percent of all cars on the road.
Transport Minister Thomas Danielsen (V) has stated in a press release from the Danish Road Directorate that the claim that electric cars pose a greater danger to cyclists and pedestrians "is a myth that has spoken against an otherwise positive transformation of the Danish car fleet".
– It is good news that electric cars do not pose a greater danger to cyclists and pedestrians than other cars. This has otherwise been a myth that has spoken against an otherwise positive transformation of the Danish car fleet, says the minister.
It is also a fact that electric cars 'talk' less than cars with combustion engines, which can make them harder to hear for other road users.
Yet the Danish Road Directorate's analysis shows that they do not increase the risk of accidents involving cyclists and pedestrians.
Since July 1, 2021, EU regulations have required new electric cars to emit a warning sound at speeds up to 20 kilometers per hour.
The purpose is to warn cyclists and pedestrians. The Danish Road Directorate has not investigated the effect of this artificial sound and does not know whether it is perceived by cyclists and pedestrians.
In the accidents investigated, the electric cars were on average 1.7 years old, while the plug-in hybrid cars were even newer.
In comparison, the other passenger cars were on average 8.8 years old. Marianne Foldberg Steffensen, head of department at the Danish Road Directorate, points out that newer electric cars often have more advanced safety equipment.
According to Steffensen, this may explain why electric cars have not had a negative, but perhaps rather a positive, impact on road safety.
A similar conclusion has been reached in a study by Statistics Norway, the equivalent of Denmark's Statistics Norway. At the end of 2023, the Norwegians found that electric cars are not overrepresented in traffic accidents involving pedestrians.
