A new study from doctors at the Technical University of Munich's TUM University Hospital has identified older men riding without helmets as a particularly high-risk group for serious injuries in e-bike crashes, according to findings reported by Medical Xpress on March 2026.

The research comes amid a significant shift in German cycling habits: since 2023, e-bike sales in Germany have surpassed those of conventional bicycles, and crash rates have climbed in parallel. Clinicians at TUM University Hospital analyzed injury patterns from e-bike incidents and found that severe brain injuries were a prominent outcome, with age, sex, and helmet use emerging as clear risk factors.

Study Quality and Limitations: This research appears to be an observational study based on hospital trauma data, which means it can identify associations but cannot establish causation. The full sample size, peer-review status, and any potential conflicts of interest were not disclosed in the available summary. Readers should await the full published paper to assess methodological rigor, including whether confounding variables such as crash speed, road conditions, and comorbidities were controlled for.

The findings add to a growing body of evidence linking e-bike adoption with distinct injury profiles compared to traditional cycling, likely due to higher speeds and the heavier weight of e-bikes. Public health implications point toward targeted helmet promotion campaigns aimed specifically at older male riders.

Source: Medical Xpress, https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-03-bike-links-severe-brain-injuries.html. The primary peer-reviewed publication was not directly cited in the available source material.