Zhang Xue's motorcycle purchase restriction was complained about, trauma expert's life-and-death advice

Ask AI · Trauma expert Cai Zhiqing explains why he uses life-and-death cases to warn about cycling risks?

Zhang Xue motorcycle prohibits novices with less than one year of driving experience from purchasing their large-displacement models, sparking user complaints. Zhang Xue responds that this is for safety reasons, even if it reduces sales.

Trauma medicine expert Cai Zhiqing told “Medical World” that he supports Zhang Xue, as in his daily clinical practice, he has witnessed too many tragedies caused by improper riding.

Cycling safety concerns life and death.

Written by | Wen Hui

“More than half of the severe trauma patients admitted to our trauma center are related to motorcycles,” Cai Zhiqing, deputy director of the Trauma Center at Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, told “Medical World” on April 3.

Recently, Zhang Xue Motorcycles, which gained popularity after winning the WSBK (World Superbike Championship), faced user complaints for banning novices with less than one year of driving experience from purchasing their large-displacement models. Founder Zhang Xue responded: “I hope to save a few lives.” The Ministry of Public Security then publicly supported this decision.

Besides consumer-level discussions, on the clinical front, Cai Zhiqing sees another dimension: a machine that accelerates from 0 to 100 km/h in 2.81 seconds and reaches a top speed of 280 km/h often ends up in the emergency room or ICU when handed to inexperienced riders.

Underestimated motorcycle accident injuries

According to CCTV News, China’s motorcycle ownership continues to grow, with riding surpassing traditional commuting as a popular leisure activity. Data from the Motorcycle Chamber of Commerce shows that in 2024, sales of large-displacement leisure motorcycles over 250cc will reach 756.6k units, a 42.97% increase year-on-year.

Behind the popularity, safety risks are rising in tandem. Data from the Ministry of Public Security’s Road Traffic Safety Research Center shows that in 2024, general accidents involving motorcycle riders accounted for 16.6% of all youth traffic accidents, up 7.66% year-on-year.

Looking at accident data, the number of motorcycle accidents per 10,000 young riders aged 18 to 35 far exceeds that of car drivers. In 2024, the accident rate for young motorcycle riders was 2.58 times higher than that for car drivers.

Earlier, The Lancet Public Health published a study analyzing data from national disease surveillance points, examining China’s traffic accident death rates from 2006 to 2016. The results showed:

From 2006 to 2016, pedestrians, motorcycle riders, and vehicle passengers were the most common groups to die in road traffic accidents in China, accounting for 42%, 25%, and 17% of total traffic fatalities, respectively; especially among ages 15–29 and 30–44, motorcycle riders had higher death rates than pedestrians in certain years.

International data is equally alarming.

The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) released guidelines in 2024 stating that over the past decade, motorcycles accounted for only 3% of registered vehicles but contributed to 14% of traffic fatalities, with a death rate per mile traveled 29 times that of cars; data from the German Federal Statistical Office also shows that motorcycle riders face a traffic death risk 21 times higher than car drivers.

These figures, reflected in Cai Zhiqing’s daily work, translate into tragic riding accidents. He reports that 50% to 60% of severe trauma patients in his hospital’s trauma center are related to motorcycles or modified high-powered electric bikes, mostly young men.

“Motorcycles are fast and heavy, and accidents often involve high-energy trauma,” Cai Zhiqing explains. High-energy trauma (High-Energy Trauma) usually refers to serious multiple injuries caused by high-speed, high-kinetic events, where the enormous kinetic energy is transferred to the body in an instant, causing multi-system and multi-site damage.

“An adult’s head impact at 40 km/h is equivalent to falling from three stories high; for every 10 km/h increase in speed, the risk rises exponentially.” For some aggressive motorcycle riders, 40 km/h is just the starting speed.

Cai Zhiqing has summarized the most common injuries in various riding accidents. Among them, motorcyclists in collisions are almost unprotected at the moment of impact, directly bearing the full energy, resulting in more severe and complex injuries.

He states that traumatic brain injury is the leading cause of death and disability in riding accidents, with skull fractures, intracranial hemorrhages, diffuse axonal injuries… each diagnosis representing a severe blow to life.

Spinal injuries are also highly prevalent in riding accidents; cervical fractures can lead to paralysis of limbs, thoracolumbar injuries may cause paraplegia.

Chest impacts can cause multiple rib fractures, pneumothorax, lung contusions; abdominal injuries may result in liver or spleen rupture, kidney contusions; pelvic injuries can damage reproductive organs, urinary system, pelvis.

Cai Zhiqing notes that these injuries are often hidden; outwardly they may seem intact, but internally, there can be massive bleeding. Many injured persons are already in hemorrhagic shock upon hospital arrival, making rescue extremely difficult and with high mortality.

In addition, limbs are the first to hit the ground in riding accidents. High-speed impacts can cause complex open fractures or even limb destruction.

“Severe limb injuries are difficult to reconstruct with medical technology; even after multiple surgeries, some patients ultimately face amputation or permanent disability,” Cai Zhiqing says. During a car accident, the body slides at high speed on the road surface, causing extensive skin tearing, soft tissue necrosis, and infection, which can rapidly develop into sepsis or multi-organ failure.

Difficulty in treatment

Cai Zhiqing shares a severe motorcycle accident case with “Medical World.”

In the summer of 2025, a 17-year-old motorcycle accident victim, Xiao Hua, was transferred to the Trauma Center at Shen Shantown Hospital. He had previously undergone emergency procedures such as tracheal intubation and thoracic drainage at a local hospital, but his condition continued to worsen. Since the local hospital lacked further treatment capabilities, he was transferred to Cai Zhiqing’s trauma center.

After admission, Cai Zhiqing’s team found Xiao Hua had multiple serious injuries: hemorrhagic shock, traumatic brain injury, skull fractures, bilateral pneumothorax, bilateral lung contusions, multiple rib fractures, kidney injury, right pelvic fracture, comminuted fracture of the right femur, right patella fracture, open fracture of the right tibia and fibula, right humerus fracture; right sciatic nerve injury, right lower limb avulsion injury, with high risk of wound infection.

“His condition was quite critical upon arrival; lung injuries had