An analysis of British road traffic accidents in a recent study concluded that battery electric vehicles and hybrids are . from 32 billion miles of BEV and HEV travel and over 3 trillion miles traveled in gas and diesel vehicles, the study showed that in extra-urban environments the electric-powered cars basically just as likely as internal combustion cars, though they were three times . There are , but it’s still pretty wild to see this massive spread in running down folks between the two groups.
There isn’t any hard and fast rule that explains this phenomenon, but using some logic we can likely determine what’s going on here. For one thing, particularly in the UK, EVs and Hybrids are significantly more likely to travel into city centers, where the pedestrians are. For another, EVs and Hybrids are increasingly likely to be purchased by younger and less experienced drivers.
Another major factor is that cars traveling on battery power are much quieter than gas or diesel vehicles, even with companies installing pedestrian warning systems that make noise at low speeds. In my own anecdotal experience, these artificial sounds emanating from EVs and hybrids are harder to aurally pinpoint speed and distance. I might hear one without looking up and think it’s ten or fifteen feet away, when really it’s right beside me.
The study focused on road accident data in the country from 2013 to 2017, the most recent years available. The analysis included 916,713 car crash casualties,.
