Economy 14 November 2025, 4:35pm

Number of bike accidents rise in Hungary in August, those caused by e-scooter riders drop

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Electronic scooters have frequently appeared in the Hungarian news in summer due to an increasing number of road accidents involving their riders. July saw a record number of e-scooter accidents, but this figure dropped in August, while the number of accidents involving cyclists and e-bike riders increased.

The number of road accidents caused by passenger transport vehicles rose by 1.1% month on month and 1.6% in annual terms to 1,292 in August 2025, according to the latest figures of the Central Statistical Office (KSH).

The graph below clearly reflects seasonal patterns, with the number of road accidents involving injuries rising between the start of the year and the end of summer.

The number of accidents caused by the drivers of passenger cars generally dropped m/m in the previous years in August but it rose this time. The seaonal pattern is largely the same as before for motorcycles (although there was a m/m jump in August 2024), while accidents caused by cyclists increased some against the general decline.

The total number of road accidents involcing personal injuries (which includes those that were caused by pedestrians, freigh transport or other passenger transport vehicles) was 1,468 in August, up 1.2% m/m but down 0.4% yr/yr.

Bikes, mopeds, motorcycles...

The KSH has longer-term statistics for accidents caused by the riders of bicycles, mopeds and motorcycles. These go back to January 2021 and also show a seasonal pattern, with much higher accident numbers for cyclists, especially when it comes to the cumulated figure.

There were 3.5% more accidents caused by cyclists than in July this year and in August 2024. The number of accidents caused by moped riders dropped sharply by almost 25% m/m and almsot 26% in annual terms. The number of accidents caused by motorcyclists decreased by 7.6% in monthly terms and almost 12% in annual terms, which follows an almost 35% yr/yr in July.

E-bikes, e-scooters...

The Central Statistical Office (KSH) has only started collecting statistics on accidents involving e-scooter or e-bike riders since January 2024.

Last year, e-scooter riders were involved in 367 accidents resulting in personal injury, and there were 436 such accidents in the first eigh months of this year, up 66% from 262 in January-August last year.
E-bike riders caused 133 accidents resulting in personal injury on the road last year, and 86 in the first eight months of 2025, down 12.2% from 98 in Jan-Aug last year.
By comparison, moped drivers caused 497 accidents resulting in personal injury in 2024, and 326 in the first eight months of this year, against 389 (-16.2%) in Jan-Aug 2024.
Meanwhile, bike riders (not on e-bike) caused 1,228 accidents resulting in personal injury last year, and 846 in the first eight months this year, 7.2% fewer than 912 in the same period last year.
Passenger car drivers caused 9,675 accidents resulting in personal injury last year, and 5,974 in Jan-Aug this year, down 4.4% from 6,251 in the same period last year.

In the summer, we saw a growing number of shocking videos of e-scooter riders being hit by cars. These accidents usually occur at pedestrian crossings, where riders should dismount and walk, allowing motorists to anticipate and react to the much lower speed of pedestrians. The police keeps pointing out the importance of protective gear. Please note that if you do not dismount from your bike, e-bike or e-scooter when using a pedestrian crossing, you will no longer be considered a pedestrian. Therefore, the rules regarding drivers of motor vehicles will not apply to you.

while july saw the highest number of e-scooter accidents resulting in injuries (97), there was a drop to 86 (-11.3% m/m) in August.

The cumulative number of such accidents was 803, up from just 262 a year earlier. (The KSH began publishing statistics on e-bike and e-scooter accidents in January 2024.)

In August, there were only 13 accidents caused by e-bike riders, bringing the total number of such accidents to "only" 219, which compares with 98 a year earlier.

How serious are the accidents?

As regards the seriousness of the accidents, the KSH breaks them down into four categories: (i) fatal, (ii) serious injury, (iii) light injury, (iv) no injury.

Bike accidents

Last year, 23 of the 1,228 accidents (1.9%) caused by bike riders were fatal.

This figure was 1.5% for the first eight months of last year and 2.0% for January-August this year.

The percentage of serious injuries went up to 37.2% from 32.6% in Jan-Aug, while that of light injuries moderated to under 60.5% from almost 66%.

Moped accidents

As for moped riders, six or 1.2% of personal injury accidents were fatal last year.

The 1.3% fatality rate for January-August 2024 rose to 1.5% in the same period this year.

The percentage of serious injuries edged up to 42.9% from 40.6%, while that of light injuries dropped to 55.8% from 58.1%.

E-scooter accidents

Of the 367 accidents resulting in personal injury in 2024, only three (0.8%) were fatal when caused by an e-scooter rider.

Only one of the 436 accidents in this vehicle category was fatal in the first eight months of this year (0.2%), down from 0.8% in the same period last year (2 out of 262).

The ratio of serious injuries (144) moderated to 33.0% from 39.3% (103 in Jan-Aug 2024), while that of light injuries was up at 66.7% (291) from 59.9% (157) in Jan-Aug 2024.

E-bike accidents

Last year, three accidents caused by e-bikers were fatal, accounting for 2.3% of the 133 cases.

In contrast, two of the 86 cases this year proved to be fatal, also equating to 2.3%.

30, or about 35% of the total number of accidents resulting in injuries, ended with serious injuries, up slightly from 33.7% in January-August last year, while the share of light injuries was down a bit at 62.8% from 64.3%.

The following graphs show a monthly breakdown of the above vehicles in terms of the severity of the accidents they caused...