James Luckhurst sits down with Sarah Vaughan, lead researcher at Angelica Solutions, to explore one of the fastest-changing areas in urban mobility: the rise of E-bikes, and what their growth means for safety, behaviour, policy, and the wider Safe System.

Sarah, who has over 20 years of experience in the insurance industry, returns to the podcast with insights from her latest white paper, which analyses e-bike usage, risks, and opportunities. Her work blends hard data, roadside observation, and industry expertise to help policymakers, insurers, and transport professionals understand how this emerging mode fits into the vision of sustainable, safe transport.

In this episode:

• Why E-bikes matter - the huge potential for active travel, reduced congestion, and greener cities.
• Where the risks are growing- including lack of helmet use (just 19% of riders observed), red-light jumping (54% of E-bike riders), and the rise of unregistered or illegally modified bikes.
• The data challenge - how the absence of E-bike identifiers in Stats19 hampers meaningful analysis and makes collisions hard to track.
• Delivery riders and new behaviours - what happens when a rapidly expanding workforce has no licensing, training, or traceability.
• Infrastructure frustrations - why human behaviour at junctions can’t be fixed by enforcement alone, and what Scandinavian examples can teach us
• Insurance concerns - the gap in protection for pedestrians and riders when most bikes aren’t insured and collisions go unrecorded.
• Policy questions - whether registration, speed compliance, or clearer rules are needed before adoption outpaces safety frameworks.
• Simple, practical steps - from promoting helmet use and alcohol awareness to encouraging mutual respect between all road users.

Sarah also talks us through her personal journey from cautious observer to regular E-bike rider, and how those lived experiences sharpened her interest in understanding the true risks and rewards of E-bikes today.

Find out more about Project EDWARD here.

Welcome to the Project EDWARD Podcast, where we explore data-driven actions for safe mobility.

Join the EDWARD team and our key partners as we facilitate events, symposiums, webinars, discussions, and podcast episodes. Our mission is to share evidence-led good practices that support the Safe System. Tune in to stay informed and inspired by the latest in road safety and mobility innovations.

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