On September 9, the Federal Roads Office Astra reported a 13 percent increase in the number of seriously injured cyclists compared to the average for the first six months of 2009 to 2013. These tragic statistics prompted various media outlets to call for stricter rules, especially for e-bike riding.

Now the media office of the Velosuisse and 2-Rad-Schweiz associations is speaking out: from the cycling industry's point of view, it is irresponsible to talk about a dramatic increase in the danger of cycling based on a six-month comparison with a wide range of weather conditions. The bad weather in spring 2013 led to massively less cycling traffic, while the mild winter and sunny spring a year later "attracted thousands of cyclists and e-bikers onto the roads". Roland Fuchs, media spokesman for the two associations, concludes: "When people ride less, the frequency of accidents decreases; when people ride more, it increases."

Fuchs continues: "Riding bikes and e-bikes has not become more dangerous per se in recent years - in relation to the increase in the number of vehicles. The number of accidents involving e-bikes has not increased but has remained constant in relation to the boom in vehicles. There are currently around 270,000 e-bikes on Swiss roads, compared to just 3,000 eight years ago."

The fact that the rapid rise of a new means of transport unfortunately also leads to accidents is inherent in the nature of human locomotion. Fuchs therefore believes that demanding new regulations and even tests for all e-bike riders is completely exaggerated and runs counter to the goal of motivating as many people as possible to cycle. The industry association supports the voluntary wearing of bicycle helmets and the current regulations regarding the riding and equipment of 45 km/h e-bikes. The cycling industry associations are vehemently opposed to regulations that go beyond the current ones, as these would make cycling less attractive, which cannot be in the interests of the general public.