Every year, millions of Americans choose to hop on e-bikes because of their affordability, convenience and speed. Motorcycles can take you farther, faster, and have been around longer; so has their dangerous reputation. When you look at the numbers, which is actually more dangerous? Teo explains to Clare what the data says about the unique and shared risks of the two rides.

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Support the show by supporting our home, KUOW Public Radio in Seattle.

Sources in this episode:
Safety and Injury Prevention Statement, American College of Surgeons, 2025 
Bike helmet protects a young boy’s brain, UW Medicine, 2025
Electric Bicycle Injuries and Hospitalizations, JAMA Surgery, 2024
National Electronic Injury Surveillance System, 2024
Bicycle Injury at UW Medicine, Harborview Injury Prevention and Research Center, 2024 
Exploring Electric Bicycle Safety Performance Data and Policy Options for California, San Jose State University, 2025
E-Bikes are vehicles, not toys: What parents need to know, Utah Department of Public Safety, 2026
Select Risk Factors Associated with Causes of Motorcycle Crashs, National Transportation Safety Board, 2018
Micromobility: Data Challenges Associated with Assessing the Prevalence and Risk of Electric Scooter and Electric Bicycle Fatalities and Injuries, National Transportation Safety Board, 2022 
Traffic Safety Facts: Motorcycles, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 2025 
Traffic Safety Facts: Pedalcycles, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 2025 
Fatality Analysis Reporting System, 2024
Injury patterns and safety implications for electric bikes compared to mopeds in the United States, Traffic Injury Prevention, 2025
Interview: Stephen J. Mooney, Ph.D., University of Washington Department of Epidemiology, 2026

Every year, millions of Americans choose to hop on e-bikes because of their affordability, convenience and speed. Motorcycles can take you farther, faster, and have been around longer; so has their dangerous reputation. When you look at the numbers, which is actually more dangerous? Teo explains to Clare what the data says about the unique and shared risks of the two rides.
We want to answer your questions about how our world works! <a href="https://forms.office.com/r/4nGSfCuAML">Click here</a> to submit a question using our online form, or email the team at ControlF@kuow.org
Support the show by supporting our home, <a href="https://www.kuow.org/donate/control-f-notes">KUOW Public Radio</a> in Seattle.
Sources in this episode:
<ul>
<li aria-level="1"><a href="https://www.facs.org/about-acs/statements/statement-on-electric-bicycle-safety-and-injury-prevention/">Safety and Injury Prevention Statement</a>, American College of Surgeons, 2025&nbsp;</li>
<li aria-level="1"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXReW3O5_MA">Bike helmet protects a young boy&rsquo;s brain</a>, UW Medicine, 2025</li>
<li aria-level="1"><a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10882498/">Electric Bicycle Injuries and Hospitalizations</a>, JAMA Surgery, 2024</li>
<li aria-level="1"><a href="https://www.cpsc.gov/Research--Statistics/NEISS-Injury-Data">National Electronic Injury Surveillance System</a>, 2024</li>
<li aria-level="1"><a href="https://wtsc.wa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Exec-Summary_Bike-Injury-in-Seattle_Oct2024.pdf">Bicycle Injury at UW Medicine</a>, Harborview Injury Prevention and Research Center, 2024&nbsp;</li>
<li aria-level="1"><a href="https://transweb.sjsu.edu/sites/default/files/2423-Agrawal-Electric-Bicycle-Safety-Data-Policy.pdf">Exploring Electric Bicycle Safety Performance Data and Policy Options for California</a>, San Jose State University, 2025</li>
<li aria-level="1"><a href="https://highwaysafety.utah.gov/ebikes/">E-Bikes are vehicles, not toys: What parents need to know</a>, Utah Department of Public Safety, 2026</li>
<li aria-level="1"><a href="https://www.ntsb.gov/safety/safety-studies/Documents/SR1801.pdf">Select Risk Factors Associated with Causes of Motorcycle Crashs</a>, National Transportation Safety Board, 2018</li>
<li aria-level="1"><a href="https://www.ntsb.gov/safety/safety-studies/Documents/SRR2201.pdf">Micromobility: Data Challenges Associated with Assessing the Prevalence and Risk of Electric Scooter and Electric Bicycle Fatalities and Injuries</a>, National Transportation Safety Board, 2022&nbsp;</li>
<li aria-level="1"><a href="https://crashstats.nhtsa.dot.gov/Api/Public/ViewPublication/813732">Traffic Safety Facts: Motorcycles</a>, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 2025&nbsp;</li>
<li aria-level="1"><a href="https://crashstats.nhtsa.dot.gov/Api/Public/ViewPublication/813739">Traffic Safety Facts: Pedalcycles</a>, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 2025&nbsp;</li>
<li aria-level="1"><a href="https://www.nhtsa.gov/research-data/fatality-analysis-reporting-system-fars">Fatality Analysis Reporting System</a>, 2024</li>
<li aria-level="1"><a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40854205/">Injury patterns and safety implications for electric bikes compared to mopeds in the United States</a>, Traffic Injury Prevention, 2025</li>
<li aria-level="1">Interview: Stephen J. Mooney, Ph.D., University of Washington Department of Epidemiology, 2026</li>
</ul>

Control F is a podcast about data — hard, fuzzy, surprising, and sometimes unreliable data — and all the ways it influences our daily lives. In each episode, we dig deep on a topic and search through research, algorithms, and assumptions to bring you insights on how stuff works. In a world ruled by numbers, Control F reads between the (spreadsheet) lines to find the bigger story.

Control F is a podcast about data &mdash; hard, fuzzy, surprising, and sometimes unreliable data &mdash; and all the ways it influences our daily lives. In each episode, we dig deep on a topic and search through research, algorithms, and assumptions to bring you insights on how stuff works. In a world ruled by numbers, Control F reads between the (spreadsheet) lines to find the bigger story.

Control F is a podcast about data — hard, fuzzy, surprising, and sometimes unreliable data — and all the ways it influences our daily lives. 

Control F

Every year, millions of Americans choose to hop on e-bikes because of their affordability, convenience and speed. They also have a safer reputation than motorcycles. But are they actually safer?