Characteristics of media-reported road traffic crashes involving professional delivery e-bike riders versus other e-bike riders in China.

INTRODUCTION

With the rapid expansion of food delivery services, crashes involving professional delivery e-bike riders have emerged as a critical traffic safety issue in China. However, limited research has systematically examined the epidemiological characteristics of such crashes.

METHODS

We analyzed media-reported crashes from 2009-2023 collected in the Automated Road Traffic Crash Data Platform (ARTCDP), which uses natural language processing (NLP) and BERT algorithms to extract data from publicly-available media reports. Differences in crash characteristics, geographic distribution, and contributing factors were compared between professional delivery and other e-bike riders.

RESULTS

A total of 4,417 professional delivery e-bike rider crashes and 17,025 other e-bike rider crashes were included. Pedestrians were the most common collision object (37%). Delivery riders were less likely to collide with motor vehicles (29% vs. 42%) and more likely to hit non-motorized vehicles (22% vs. 12%) and infrastructure (12% vs. 9%) than non-delivery riders. Intersections were the top crash site, but crashes involving delivery riders occurred more often at pedestrian crossings (21%) and bus stops (11%). The crashes demonstrated inconsistent geographic distributions. About 40% of all crashes had two or more contributing factors. Compared with crashes among other e-bike riders, those involving professional delivery e-bike riders had a higher proportion of distracted riding (27% vs. 17%), speeding (18% vs. 12%), riding in the opposite lane (15% vs. 6%), and illegal parking (12% vs. 4%). Malfunctioning tires, a lack of a barrier between opposite lanes, and impeded view by obstacles also occurred more frequently in crashes involving professional delivery e-bike riders than those involving other e-bike riders (40% vs. 20%, 35% vs. 22%, and 35% vs. 18%, respectively).

CONCLUSIONS

Crashes involving professional delivery e-bike riders in China show distinct patterns linked to occupational exposure, underscoring the need for targeted, multifaceted road safety interventions.

PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: Findings support tailored interventions for delivery riders, including vehicle checks, rider training, and infrastructure improvements near pedestrian crossings and bus stops.