Aspen Valley Hospital’s trauma division is seeing extra sufferers with extreme bike accidents — an rising proportion of that are the results of e-bike accidents.
ASPEN, Colo. — Pitkin County and Aspen have been seeing an total enhance in bike and e-bike accidents over the previous 5 years, based on knowledge from Pitkin County Open Space and Trails and the Aspen Police Department. As a end result, Aspen Valley Hospital’s trauma division is seeing extra sufferers with extreme bike accidents — an rising proportion of that are the results of e-bike accidents.
“It’s definitely higher than it ever has been,” mentioned Dr. Christopher Roseberry, AVH’s trauma medical director. “The e-bikes are so popular, and e-bike rentals are so popular among visitors. We went into the season fully expecting to see more e-bike injuries, and that’s what we ended up seeing.”
Pitkin County Open Space and Trails rangers reported a complete of 110 bike and e-bike crashes on OST properties since 2016. Twenty-six of these concerned e-bikes, based on an evaluation by Aspen Journalism.
>Video above: Protected bike lane coming to Marion Parkway, two years after mother was hit and killed.
Since 2018, Class 1 pedal-assisted electrical bikes, or e-bikes, have been permitted on paved or packed-gravel trails. They are nonetheless not allowed on single-track trails.
Gary Tennenbaum, OST director, wrote in an electronic mail that the elevated use of e-bikes, the extra use of trails in normal and the explosion in demand for rental bikes have led to extra bike crashes on trails.
“E-bikes are attractive because the user may travel farther faster and with moderate ease,” Tennenbaum wrote. “This brings a wide variety of people to the trails, including inexperienced riders.”
E-bikes are additionally heavier and quicker, making them more durable to manage, based on Tennenbaum.
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Sixty-two % of the crashes occurred on the Rio Grande Trail, with a complete of 68 bike and e-bike accidents over the previous 5 years. Fourteen of these concerned an e-bike.
Tennenbaum hyperlinks this excessive variety of accidents to the recognition of the path.
Over the years, the variety of crashes has elevated. In 2018, OST reported a complete of 19 crashes, however this quantity jumped to 27 in 2019, together with seven incidents associated to e-bikes. That 12 months noticed the best variety of accidents for each bikes and e-bikes since 2016.
Although the variety of complete accidents barely decreased in 2020 to 24, the proportion of e-bike accidents elevated from 26% in 2019 to 38% in 2020, with a complete of 9 e-bike accidents.
In 2021, OST has recorded 13 crashes for bikes and e-bikes by way of Oct. 5, together with seven involving e-bikes. Five of the bike and e-bike accidents that occurred this 12 months have been on the Rio Grande Trail, together with one involving an e-bike.
According to Tennenbaum, path visitation is barely down from 2020 however stays increased than pre-pandemic years.
“The Woody Creek Tavern was closed till mid to late July,” Tennenbaum wrote, suggesting that probably held down numbers on the Rio Grande Trail, “and we only get notification of accidents that get a 911 call or when rangers come upon an accident.”
Overall visitation decreased by 5% on OST trails this summer season in contrast with the summer season of 2020, based on OST knowledge. The Brush Creek Trail misplaced about 40% of its visitation between June and September 2021 in contrast with the summer season months of 2020. Visits to the Upper Rio Grande Trail additionally decreased from 64,068 in the summer season of 2020 to 63,415 this summer season.
The solely exception was the Rio Grande Trail at Stein Park, which noticed about 8,800 extra visits this summer season than throughout the summer season of 2020.
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Severe e-bike accidents doubled from 2019 to 2021
Twenty-four of the 28 complete bike accidents that triggered head accidents (together with attainable head accidents) since 2016 concerned non-electrical bikes, based on OST knowledge. The different 4 concerned e-bikes.
“Head injuries are more severe and usually 911 is called, so we can track that,” Tennenbaum wrote. “Many injuries go unreported if they are not severe. We are starting to track helmet use, but from our rangers, they feel a large majority wear helmets on the trail.”
The variety of extreme e-bike accidents requiring admission to AVH doubled from 2019 to 2021, from 6 in 2019 to 12 in 2021, based on the power.
And whereas the variety of sufferers with accidents associated to bike or e-bike accidents who have been admitted or transferred at AVH’s trauma division elevated from 30 in 2019 to 39 in 2021, the share of these accidents attributed to e-bikes rose from 20% to 30%, based on Jennifer Slaughter, AVH’s chief advertising and marketing officer.
Last 12 months marked the one exception to this development, as the overall variety of extreme bike and e-bike accidents dropped to 26, with solely two involving an e-bike. “In early summer of last year, we just didn’t have many people in town (due to the pandemic), so our overall hospital numbers were way down,” mentioned Roseberry, AVH’s trauma medical director.
Yet, these numbers don’t give a whole image and solely present probably the most critical accidents. Roseberry estimated that these figures characterize solely about 10% to 11% of all bike and e-bike accidents, since most don’t require hospital admission.
Head trauma and fractured collar bones, arms and ribs are the commonest accidents brought on by critical bike and e-bike accidents, Roseberry mentioned.
Over this previous summer season, nearly all of bike accidents ensuing in extreme accidents concerned e-bikes, Roseberry mentioned, based on an indicator utilized by AVH that assesses the severity of accidents.
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E-bike riders are usually older and at increased threat of significant accidents
In 2021, the typical age of adults severely injured on an e-bike was 69, Roseberry mentioned, whereas the typical age of adults severely injured on a non-electrical bike was 51. “It’s a much older population,” he mentioned. “What we are really seeing is that many injuries are happening when people are riding beyond their level of ability to control the bike (and e-bike).”
As e-bikes give individuals the chance to go on strenuous rides that they’d not usually do, corresponding to going to the highest of the Maroon Bells or to the highest of Ashcroft, they could put riders, particularly older customers, in hazard on their means down as they go quicker, which will increase the crash influence and their threat of dropping management.
“E-bikes are extremely heavy, which carries with it their own risk because a heavy bike takes much longer to stop and it’s much harder to control,” Roseberry mentioned.
Although AVH and OST have seen a rise in e-bike crashes and accidents, an evaluation of knowledge from the Aspen Police Department reveals that the division solely recorded one e-bike crash since 2016 among the many 111 bike and e-bike crashes that occured in city from 2016 to 2021. Eighty-two % of the accidents have been medical calls.
The division knowledge confirmed that 2020 noticed 23 crashes, second solely to the 24 in 2016. As of Aug. 25 this 12 months, there have been 15 crashes.
Twenty-seven of the accidents since 2016 occurred in AP14, an area outlined in Aspen police information as extending from the roundabout on the entrance of Aspen and alongside Main Street, skipping the downtown core and persevering with by way of the neighborhoods on the north-east finish of city. In the AP10 zone, which incorporates the Rio Grande Trail hall starting at Herron Park and the Hunter Creek and Centennial neighborhoods, there have been 21 accidents on file.
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E-bike riders have to hold velocity in test and put on a helmet
This summer season, OST, the Forest Service, the town of Aspen, the city of Snowmass Village, the Aspen Chamber and the Aspen Skiing Co. led an schooling marketing campaign about e-biking in and round Aspen.
“The chamber and Forest Service made a video about e-biking to the Maroon Bells,” Tennenbaum wrote. “We (OST) created a website showing where you can e-bike in Pitkin County, made flyers that all bike rental companies can hand out to e-bike rentals with a QR code to that website, which also had information about safely e-biking.”
Roseberry made movies on bike security for AVH’s social media feeds this previous summer season hoping to scale back the variety of accidents.
“A lot more education needs to happen because, clearly, we’re seeing a lot of injuries,” Roseberry mentioned. “Part of the education is knowing that e-bikes are heavy, they will easily get you into a situation that may be difficult to control the bike, so you really need to keep your speed in check.”
Seventeen of the 39 severely injured people from a bike accident weren’t carrying a helmet, based on Roseberry.
“Bicycle helmets reduce serious head injury by 60%,” Roseberry mentioned, referencing nationwide research. “That’s certainly motivation to wear one.”
Aspen Journalism is a nonprofit, investigative group. For extra go to www.aspenjournalism.org.
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