[Road-side observational survey on 4 unlawful acts among electric bicycle riders in Zhejiang].

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the prevalence of key unlawful acts among electric bicycle riders and provide evidence for the development of specific interventions.

METHODS

A 4-day road-side survey was conducted in Jinhua, Zhejiang province, in 2013. The speed of electric bicycle was measured by speed measuring instrument and the unlawful acts of riders, such as reverse riding, running the red-light and carrying passengers, were observed with non-participatory way.

RESULTS

A total of 3 448 running electric bicycles were observed and the average speed was 26 km/h, the proportion of electric bicycle at the speed of ≥15 km/h was 87.06%. The average speed was highest during 10 am-11 am(30 km/h). the number of observed electric bicycle riders with unlawful acts of ' running the red-light','reverse riding' and ' carrying passengers' were 1 315, 656 and 1 877 respectively, and the estimated rate was 10.01%, 4.99% and 15.22%, respectively. More ' running the red-light','reverse riding' and ' carrying passengers' occurred during 7 am-8 am(14.59%)and 13 pm-14 pm(15.25%), 13 pm-14 pm(7.33%)and 17 pm-18 pm(7.63%), 6 am-7 am(32.44%)and 12 pm-13 pm(27.90%), respectively.

CONCLUSION

Overspeeding, carrying passengers, running the red-light, reverse riding were the key unlawful acts among electric bicycle riders. Targeted intervention should be carried out to reduce the prevalence of unlawful riding acts and the incidence of electric bicycle related injuries and deaths.