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One issue I've noticed with these new forms of electric wheeled transport (longboard, transverse and longitudinal one-wheelers) is that the people riding them o

One issue I've noticed with these new forms of electric wheeled transport (longboard, transverse and longitudinal one-wheelers) is that the people riding them often don't come from a sports background. They aren't "safe" devices exactly - it takes skill to pilot them, and when things inevitably go awry, it takes good reflexes to avoid damage. Novices to action sports often throw their arms out to catch themselves when they bail instead of rolling through the fall. They also don't know how to navigate obstacles via strategic weighting and unweighting of their implement. The energies involved are also substantial -- to put it bluntly, some of these things fuckin' rip, which is super fun, but also makes safety gear a good idea. You can take a lot of trauma and abrasion bailing at 25mph+, potentially life-changing or fatal in the worst cases. There's a reason why downhill longboarders and an increasing number of electric wheel riders wear a fullface and leathers.

taylodl 4y ago
Yup - and by the time you don all the safety gear appropriate for motorcycle riding it's just not quite as much fun anymore, is it? Seriously though, you should at least be wearing a 3/4 helmet when riding these things and it wouldn't hurt to wear a riding jacket. It's all fun and games until you inevitably fall.
deeblering4 4y ago
Very true. If you've never been able to cruise on a skateboard, you might not realize how much damage an unexpected pebble or sidewalk crack will do. Riding is a constant balance of scanning the pavement for inconsistencies and making corrections to mitigate them. I don't know if that's even possible at 20+ mph.
- 0_____0 4y ago
  Your latter point is why I'm not really sold on electric longboards. Your control authority on a longboard is pretty low, and you need a lot of control authority to react to surprise obstacles/maintain stability after encountering one. Sure, DH longboarders exceed 25mph regularly, but they ride in semi-controlled environments (scout the descent for gravel etc before hitting it) and are exceptionally skilled. Putting random noobs on electric longboards is a recipe for road rash and broken bones. A few years ago, three people in my office got Boosted boards, and I believe we saw two instances of pretty bad road rash and a broken bone among them.
  - Cerium 4y ago
    The danger is in the perception. It took me about 10 hours of dedicated practice (over a few weeks) before I felt comfortable using a longboard as a transportation device off of public roads - eg: on a closed campus. When I have seen people pickup an electric longboard they feel safe in a half hour, but obviously don't have any reflexes to back that up.
    - deeblering4 4y ago
      Whenever I ride downhill I’ll carve and powerslide to keep my speed within the range of how fast I can bail into a run essentially. The few times I’ve spilled going faster than I could run have been ugly! Feet just couldn’t keep up and gone into a barely controlled roll. I don’t know if I could ever feel comfortable consistently riding that fast One time was caused by my dog chasing another dog while I was holding the leash standing on my board, that was hilariously painful
  - thot_experiment 4y ago
    Practically speaking yes, but this isn't an unsolvable problem. I ride Originals spring trucks, which use a cam and a spring instead of the urethane bushing in most skate trucks. It takes effort to keep them steady at speed for sure, but paired with soft wheels they feel like pure telepathy in terms of control authority.
  - butterguns 4y ago
    I rode a Boosted Board for the best part of 1 year on the streets of Brooklyn. I ended up selling it; although I absolutely loved the experience, I knew one day I would rip my face off if I encountered even a small pothole.
    - Grazester 4y ago
      And there are many on the streets of NYC
  - watwut 4y ago
    Electronic skateboards have bigger wheels then skateboard-cruiser which has bugger wheels then skateboard. Meaning the danger of pebbles is also much different.
- MivLives 4y ago
  It is totally possible. Generally on a One Wheel if it's a small pebble or sidewalk crack you roll over it. If it's bigger and you jump while going over it normally the board will hit the crack or whatever and bounce up into your feet. I was going down a hill near top speed on a one wheel when I saw part of the pavement was cut out, maybe a 2-3 inch groove. Did this, road through the intersection to the otherside and then sat on the curb until I stopped shaking. Probably the closest I've ever been to dying on a One Wheel.
- delusional 4y ago
  They're more stable than you think. I've ridden an eboard for around 1500km this year, and although I've taken some hard crashes (always wear protection, I lost the skin on my hands once and never again) they have been down to me overestimating my grip or underestimating the obstacle. Every time I've hit a rock I've just gone over it. A lot of it is also the different, more forward leaning, stance you assume on an eboard.
- Foobar8568 4y ago
  When I went to university, I was going there in rollers, there was a nice slope where I could go relatively fast, in the morning, almost no traffic, good visibility, relatively smooth surface. All it took was a small peeble to launch me a few meters (tens?) flying away. The fall was much more impressive than the damage, I consider myself lucky and was basically the last time I used them. I realized how dangerous it was in comparison to just biking.
kube-system 4y ago
I broke a bone literally the very first time I tried one of these. It was a painful lesson.
eagleinparadise 4y ago
My partner was hospitalized for nearly a week and had to have facial reconstructive surgery and nearly lost all her teeth after she got hit by someone on a scooter going 25mph while we were walking Be careful out there if you combine speed + unprotected mode of transportation
- 0_____0 4y ago
  I'm so sorry to hear that. I wish her well in her recovery.
- antihero 4y ago
  I for one think the future where we all walk around in cyberpunk body armour to protect ourselves from wayward idiots on powered transportation they are unable to control would be kind of sick
  - danuker 4y ago
    I'd be fine with everyone wearing bodycams and any victim being able to prove in court that they deserve damages.
    - sammalloy 4y ago
      That was sort of the premise of the book "The Circle" by Dave Eggers (not going to mention the film adaptation because it was so bad I pretend it doesn’t exist). It didn’t turn out too well in the end.
    - serf 4y ago
      I mean.. it's impractical, but I prefer the parents' tactic of defense rather than guaranteed legal indemity. Yes, I won the court case .. but my <insert grievous bodily wound> won't grow back.
      - knodi123 4y ago
        like the old joke about a tombstone with the epitaph "He had the right of way."
ramesh31 4y ago
Knowing how to fall is such an incredibly important life skill, it's baffling to watch people who never learned it. As a ski instructor, you could instantly tell from their first fall the kids who would get it and stick with it from the ones who would be sitting in the lodge pouting after an hour.
- perihelions 4y ago
  - "you could instantly tell from their first fall" Mind elaborating what it is you see?
  - comrh 4y ago
    A good video that helped me fall better on skis after I broke my wrist (by falling incorrectly): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wS0HCRMbRRA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wS0HCRMbRRA
  - ramesh31 4y ago
    >Mind elaborating what it is you see? A lot of people just fall. Like a sack of potatoes. Their inner ear senses a point of no return, and they just let gravity take over from there. Other people sense the fall, and react, but they are still just trying to stop the fall from happening, so they break their wrists on impact. But usually anyone with any kind of athletic experience or decent kinematic awareness understands that the fall is happening and the point is to direct it. The elbows tuck, the neck lowers, and they guard the body while directing the inevitable fall.
    - themitigating 4y ago
      Couldn't that be taught on mats in a gym instead of mistakes that could lead to injury?
      - alistairSH 4y ago
        Yes. Judo and parkour both actively teach falling and body-awareness. Gymnastics does, though it’s not generally as formal/explicit - you just get the body awareness from beginner-level tumbling.
moooo99 4y ago
This is ignored so often, it is scary. I have been longboarding pretty frequently and extensively up until 2 years ago. I've had my fair share of crashes and plenty of scars to serve as a reminder, but generally I always was a pretty safe and relatively skilled rider. But I also had multiple fun but stupidly risky experiences on my longboard, but no experiences comes close to the fear I felt when joining my friend on an electric longboard riding through fairly dense urban traffic. Having that experience, I don't understand how people seriously treat longboards (or similar modes that heavily depend on the riders ability to balance well) as a serious option in traffic. Bikes? Yes. E-Scooters? Probably yes. Longboards or Onewheels? Hell no.
- yonaguska 4y ago
  I see a lot of people with no business in traffic commuting on bikes too. Especially with the advent of divvy or whatever your local equivalent is. Usually people with their own bikes are more than capable. For a fun observation, go to your local Harley Davidson and watch people that haven't ridden a bicycle in 20 plus years try and learn how to ride a motorcycle, with the expectation that they'll be ready to take their licensing test in 2 days. And many of them won't even bother with that...or they'll take the test on a scooter instead of a motorcycle with gears. The test is not hard either. Nothing like what our European counterparts have to go through.
  - blobbers 4y ago
    I think the same thing whenever I see those city car rentals! Grrrreat another driver who doesn't drive often enough to warrant owning a car.
  - moooo99 4y ago
    > I see a lot of people with no business in traffic commuting on bikes too. Bikes should not be forced to drive in traffic anyways. > Especially with the advent of divvy or whatever your local equivalent is. We’ve had bike sharing like this for years at this point and it works like a charm. In fact, it’s offered by the local transportation agencies. I haven’t noticed any differences between bike sharing users and others in terms of cycling ability. > The test is not hard either. Nothing like what our European counterparts have to go through. I got my motorcycle license last year. When I started to take riding lessons it was the first time that I sat in a motorcycle, it took me about 5 months to get my license (here in Germany). I don’t understand how a few hours of dedicated training is seen as sufficient for safe traffic participation in the U.S.
conductr 4y ago
I bailed at 8mph on an electric longboard and broke my elbow, severely sprained my shoulder and wrist. I even lost some rotation and dexterity in my hand. It's one of those my arm is never going to be the same type injuries. I was 40 but skated and bmxed into my mid-20s and still felt pretty comfortable with my abilities on the ground (gave up on ramps long ago). I knew this was a risk given the speeds and even got an "off road" model (bigger wheels) to help make pebbles and such a non-issue. Even still, concrete is not flat, you'll eventually come across a missing cobblestone, etc. IMO it's a matter of when not if you'll take a spill. That said, I think the electric unicycles are much more dangerous. But at least they make it clear that it's not a toy. I passed on the Onewheel because of the random ejection complains I've seen online (which is likely fueling this regulation as it's been known for several years now). While wrecking was not fun, at least I did it to myself. I'd be really upset if I felt like the board did it to me.
- otabdeveloper4 4y ago
  > That said, I think the electric unicycles are much more dangerous. Not really. They seem that way because they require skill to ride, but people hurt themselves on electric scooters much more frequently. (People judge "danger" based on how hard something seems to pilot, not on objective measures of failure. Tiny slippery wheels and points of failure in the frame make the electric scooter a much more dangerous vehicle by default.)
  - conductr 4y ago
    I think this is because of the “clearly not a toy aspect”. Riders often are wearing full motorcycle helmets, pads, and rash guard gear. It people geared up that way on other boards/scooters there would be less injuries too. I had no protective gear which was a mistake. I didn’t fully appreciate how speed would compound the impact if I took a spill. Honestly thought it very unlikely I would fall at all the day I did. I was taking a ride on a route I already knew very well. I also think the initial difficulty of unicycles acts as a good filter so that people with subpar abilities simply don’t try. The rentable scooters are dangerous because people that shouldn’t be on them have a false sense of ability because it seems easy. Until they get to speed or take their eye off the road or something.
closetohome 4y ago
This is absolutely the case. When Onewheels were new they were mostly ridden by people who came from other boardsports. They knew the danger and treated them with the due respect, including taking the time to learn how to properly operate them. In the last couple of years they've been wholesale adopted by techies who treat them like toys. The consequences are inevitable.
fpgaminer 4y ago
I'm not sure this logic applies to the OneWheel. They aren't self balancing like a SegWay where the average person can get on and be fine zooming around within a couple minutes. The OneWheel only does about half the balancing work, you have to do the rest, and learning to ride one can take days or longer. During that time you'll fall many, many times. It also doesn't take much to eat shit on it even as a skilled rider (1). You'd have to be a complete moron not to anticipate it throwing you at any moment. Also the OneWheel, at least the Pint, can only go up to 15mph, and only on perfect conditions on the most aggressive settings. (1) I had several weeks under my belt before my last incident and still ate asphalt because the cutout in the sidewalk I was going down as a little steeper than I had thought. The board was angled down just a smidge too far because of this, caught a lip where the asphalt met the sidewalk, and "physics took control". EDIT: Addendum: That isn't to say parent comment is wrong about other boards/etc, or that the CPSC is wrong.
- sometimeshuman 4y ago
  "The OneWheel only does about half the balancing work" -- It's more like 99% of the work and I defy anyone to stay balanced and keep riding free wheel if the power suddenly cuts out. The OneWheel's balancing algorithm is so good it gives the the illusion of competence after less than an hour.
  - BuildTheRobots 4y ago
    > I defy anyone to stay balanced and keep riding free wheel if the power suddenly cuts out. Does the wheel actually freewheel if the power cuts? I've not played with one (yet), but with the reports of them dipping forward, I was curious if the wheel/motor actually locked up.
    - rx_tx 4y ago
      I think it's because as the rider is leaning forward to indicate a desire for forward motion, the board drives the motor to move you forward, but also counters the natural tendency of the front lip to just touch the floor. If the motor cuts off while you are leaning forward, the lip will immediately hid the floor and stop you. And your muscle memory isn't expecting that kind of balancing, having been used to the board "fighting you back" on leaning forward too much.
girvo 4y ago
The amount of people I see on e-scooters with absolutely horrid body positioning, unaware they can use their body weight to stop much quicker scares me. That and the lack of helmets. I ride mine as safely as I can, and have 5000 kilometres done so far. I’ve had to drop the scooter and bail a couple of times, but mine maxes at out at 25km/h for good reason. Faster than that on tiny wheels is a horrible idea.
renewiltord 4y ago
I genuinely do not believe any OneWheel riders are in this category. Loads of things aren't safe and we still let people ride them. I don't have a OneWheel, but my friends and I have beat those light-up speed signs enough times on bikes, longboards, skateboards, you name it. It's fun as fuck, and maybe you can die so you should wear a helmet but preventing people from playing with death is bullshittery.
nraynaud 4y ago
funny, I was about to build and electric skateboard, then I thought: "hum, I'm an out of shape 100+ kg slob, maybe 1) I shouldn't take a heavy fall from a standing position 2) use my muscles for transportation". So I got a non-electric bike, because I'm too lazy to walk.
- Aeolun 4y ago
  Hmm, I don't think people using bikes are too lazy to walk. Then you'd use an electric bike. People using a bike are too busy to have time for walking. Using a bike is just as much effort, just condensed over a shorter period of time.
  - WiseWeasel 4y ago
    Biking a given distance is significantly more energy efficient than walking thanks to the wheels maintaining your momentum and decreasing friction. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_efficiency_in_transport https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_efficiency_in_transport
    - Aeolun 4y ago
      More energy efficient just means you can expend the same energy and go faster :D
- Broken_Hippo 4y ago
  To be fair: I simply cannot ride a bike in my area - I moved to a mountainous area about 10 years ago. I'm fine on flat stretches, obviously OK downhill, but uphill is a struggle. A half a mile uphill is no joke. I walk because I can't realistically ride a bike. An e-bike would allow for slightly faster transportation and the ability to go up somewhat steep inclines. Since the ones around here are all electric-assisted (you still have to pedal), it means that I'd at least get some movement out of it.
blastro 4y ago
Riding an electric skateboard up and down the hills of San Francisco was one of the most dangerous and exhilarating things I've done, and was only made possible by the years of skateboarding and snowboarding experience I was lucky to have. I completely agree with your take, it was akin to a full day of snowboarding in terms of the athletic load it put on my body, and constant danger I seemed to be in. There are so many opportunities to hurt yourself and only a few ways to safely navigate the random situations you encounter. I'm glad I got out without serious injury.
- asdff 4y ago
  Skating San Fransisco Hills are certainly for the brave: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnzgRB8qH4k https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnzgRB8qH4k
jerrysievert 4y ago
Heck, i went over the handlebars of a razor scooter in Palm Springs (bad place to ride anything with small wheels) in my early 40’s. Thankfully, i just came out bloodied (i still have the scars). I would hate to try to do that with something at a higher speed.
TranquilMarmot 4y ago
As a teen, I broke three of my limbs in separate longboard incidents. Eventually I learned the lesson and stopped doing it hahaha
green-salt 4y ago
Agree. Near a building under construction I was on my Boosted board riding along probably around 6-8 mph and couldn't see a water hose that was strung across the road, and went flying off. I was in protective gear and probably would have otherwise had some kind of head trauma. I've skiied and bicycle regularly so those played in to me not breaking anything. I wasn't brave enough to turn the speed maximum up beyond the regular setting.
hemloc_io 4y ago
Saw one of these fail on mission street at speed and dude was launched into the intersection. He was ok bc he had a full armor suit on, coming from a motorcycle background you gotta respect the speed. Looks like a ton of fun thou and suppppper cyberpunk :)
wodenokoto 4y ago
> and multiple reports of serious injuries after the product failed to balance the rider or suddenly stopped while in motion. According to the callback this is a technical problem, and not of unskilled users.

taylodl 4y ago

Yup - and by the time you don all the safety gear appropriate for motorcycle riding it's just not quite as much fun anymore, is it? Seriously though, you should at least be wearing a 3/4 helmet when riding these things and it wouldn't hurt to wear a riding jacket. It's all fun and games until you inevitably fall.

deeblering4 4y ago

Very true. If you've never been able to cruise on a skateboard, you might not realize how much damage an unexpected pebble or sidewalk crack will do. Riding is a constant balance of scanning the pavement for inconsistencies and making corrections to mitigate them. I don't know if that's even possible at 20+ mph.

0_____0 4y ago
Your latter point is why I'm not really sold on electric longboards. Your control authority on a longboard is pretty low, and you need a lot of control authority to react to surprise obstacles/maintain stability after encountering one. Sure, DH longboarders exceed 25mph regularly, but they ride in semi-controlled environments (scout the descent for gravel etc before hitting it) and are exceptionally skilled. Putting random noobs on electric longboards is a recipe for road rash and broken bones. A few years ago, three people in my office got Boosted boards, and I believe we saw two instances of pretty bad road rash and a broken bone among them.
- Cerium 4y ago
  The danger is in the perception. It took me about 10 hours of dedicated practice (over a few weeks) before I felt comfortable using a longboard as a transportation device off of public roads - eg: on a closed campus. When I have seen people pickup an electric longboard they feel safe in a half hour, but obviously don't have any reflexes to back that up.
  - deeblering4 4y ago
    Whenever I ride downhill I’ll carve and powerslide to keep my speed within the range of how fast I can bail into a run essentially. The few times I’ve spilled going faster than I could run have been ugly! Feet just couldn’t keep up and gone into a barely controlled roll. I don’t know if I could ever feel comfortable consistently riding that fast One time was caused by my dog chasing another dog while I was holding the leash standing on my board, that was hilariously painful
- thot_experiment 4y ago
  Practically speaking yes, but this isn't an unsolvable problem. I ride Originals spring trucks, which use a cam and a spring instead of the urethane bushing in most skate trucks. It takes effort to keep them steady at speed for sure, but paired with soft wheels they feel like pure telepathy in terms of control authority.
- butterguns 4y ago
  I rode a Boosted Board for the best part of 1 year on the streets of Brooklyn. I ended up selling it; although I absolutely loved the experience, I knew one day I would rip my face off if I encountered even a small pothole.
  - Grazester 4y ago
    And there are many on the streets of NYC
- watwut 4y ago
  Electronic skateboards have bigger wheels then skateboard-cruiser which has bugger wheels then skateboard. Meaning the danger of pebbles is also much different.
MivLives 4y ago
It is totally possible. Generally on a One Wheel if it's a small pebble or sidewalk crack you roll over it. If it's bigger and you jump while going over it normally the board will hit the crack or whatever and bounce up into your feet. I was going down a hill near top speed on a one wheel when I saw part of the pavement was cut out, maybe a 2-3 inch groove. Did this, road through the intersection to the otherside and then sat on the curb until I stopped shaking. Probably the closest I've ever been to dying on a One Wheel.
delusional 4y ago
They're more stable than you think. I've ridden an eboard for around 1500km this year, and although I've taken some hard crashes (always wear protection, I lost the skin on my hands once and never again) they have been down to me overestimating my grip or underestimating the obstacle. Every time I've hit a rock I've just gone over it. A lot of it is also the different, more forward leaning, stance you assume on an eboard.
Foobar8568 4y ago
When I went to university, I was going there in rollers, there was a nice slope where I could go relatively fast, in the morning, almost no traffic, good visibility, relatively smooth surface. All it took was a small peeble to launch me a few meters (tens?) flying away. The fall was much more impressive than the damage, I consider myself lucky and was basically the last time I used them. I realized how dangerous it was in comparison to just biking.

kube-system 4y ago

I broke a bone literally the very first time I tried one of these. It was a painful lesson.

eagleinparadise 4y ago

My partner was hospitalized for nearly a week and had to have facial reconstructive surgery and nearly lost all her teeth after she got hit by someone on a scooter going 25mph while we were walking Be careful out there if you combine speed + unprotected mode of transportation

0_____0 4y ago
I'm so sorry to hear that. I wish her well in her recovery.
antihero 4y ago
I for one think the future where we all walk around in cyberpunk body armour to protect ourselves from wayward idiots on powered transportation they are unable to control would be kind of sick
- danuker 4y ago
  I'd be fine with everyone wearing bodycams and any victim being able to prove in court that they deserve damages.
  - sammalloy 4y ago
    That was sort of the premise of the book "The Circle" by Dave Eggers (not going to mention the film adaptation because it was so bad I pretend it doesn’t exist). It didn’t turn out too well in the end.
  - serf 4y ago
    I mean.. it's impractical, but I prefer the parents' tactic of defense rather than guaranteed legal indemity. Yes, I won the court case .. but my <insert grievous bodily wound> won't grow back.
    - knodi123 4y ago
      like the old joke about a tombstone with the epitaph "He had the right of way."

ramesh31 4y ago

Knowing how to fall is such an incredibly important life skill, it's baffling to watch people who never learned it. As a ski instructor, you could instantly tell from their first fall the kids who would get it and stick with it from the ones who would be sitting in the lodge pouting after an hour.

perihelions 4y ago
- "you could instantly tell from their first fall" Mind elaborating what it is you see?
- comrh 4y ago
  A good video that helped me fall better on skis after I broke my wrist (by falling incorrectly): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wS0HCRMbRRA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wS0HCRMbRRA
- ramesh31 4y ago
  >Mind elaborating what it is you see? A lot of people just fall. Like a sack of potatoes. Their inner ear senses a point of no return, and they just let gravity take over from there. Other people sense the fall, and react, but they are still just trying to stop the fall from happening, so they break their wrists on impact. But usually anyone with any kind of athletic experience or decent kinematic awareness understands that the fall is happening and the point is to direct it. The elbows tuck, the neck lowers, and they guard the body while directing the inevitable fall.
  - themitigating 4y ago
    Couldn't that be taught on mats in a gym instead of mistakes that could lead to injury?
    - alistairSH 4y ago
      Yes. Judo and parkour both actively teach falling and body-awareness. Gymnastics does, though it’s not generally as formal/explicit - you just get the body awareness from beginner-level tumbling.

moooo99 4y ago

This is ignored so often, it is scary. I have been longboarding pretty frequently and extensively up until 2 years ago. I've had my fair share of crashes and plenty of scars to serve as a reminder, but generally I always was a pretty safe and relatively skilled rider. But I also had multiple fun but stupidly risky experiences on my longboard, but no experiences comes close to the fear I felt when joining my friend on an electric longboard riding through fairly dense urban traffic. Having that experience, I don't understand how people seriously treat longboards (or similar modes that heavily depend on the riders ability to balance well) as a serious option in traffic. Bikes? Yes. E-Scooters? Probably yes. Longboards or Onewheels? Hell no.

yonaguska 4y ago
I see a lot of people with no business in traffic commuting on bikes too. Especially with the advent of divvy or whatever your local equivalent is. Usually people with their own bikes are more than capable. For a fun observation, go to your local Harley Davidson and watch people that haven't ridden a bicycle in 20 plus years try and learn how to ride a motorcycle, with the expectation that they'll be ready to take their licensing test in 2 days. And many of them won't even bother with that...or they'll take the test on a scooter instead of a motorcycle with gears. The test is not hard either. Nothing like what our European counterparts have to go through.
- blobbers 4y ago
  I think the same thing whenever I see those city car rentals! Grrrreat another driver who doesn't drive often enough to warrant owning a car.
- moooo99 4y ago
  > I see a lot of people with no business in traffic commuting on bikes too. Bikes should not be forced to drive in traffic anyways. > Especially with the advent of divvy or whatever your local equivalent is. We’ve had bike sharing like this for years at this point and it works like a charm. In fact, it’s offered by the local transportation agencies. I haven’t noticed any differences between bike sharing users and others in terms of cycling ability. > The test is not hard either. Nothing like what our European counterparts have to go through. I got my motorcycle license last year. When I started to take riding lessons it was the first time that I sat in a motorcycle, it took me about 5 months to get my license (here in Germany). I don’t understand how a few hours of dedicated training is seen as sufficient for safe traffic participation in the U.S.

conductr 4y ago

I bailed at 8mph on an electric longboard and broke my elbow, severely sprained my shoulder and wrist. I even lost some rotation and dexterity in my hand. It's one of those my arm is never going to be the same type injuries. I was 40 but skated and bmxed into my mid-20s and still felt pretty comfortable with my abilities on the ground (gave up on ramps long ago). I knew this was a risk given the speeds and even got an "off road" model (bigger wheels) to help make pebbles and such a non-issue. Even still, concrete is not flat, you'll eventually come across a missing cobblestone, etc. IMO it's a matter of when not if you'll take a spill. That said, I think the electric unicycles are much more dangerous. But at least they make it clear that it's not a toy. I passed on the Onewheel because of the random ejection complains I've seen online (which is likely fueling this regulation as it's been known for several years now). While wrecking was not fun, at least I did it to myself. I'd be really upset if I felt like the board did it to me.

otabdeveloper4 4y ago
> That said, I think the electric unicycles are much more dangerous. Not really. They seem that way because they require skill to ride, but people hurt themselves on electric scooters much more frequently. (People judge "danger" based on how hard something seems to pilot, not on objective measures of failure. Tiny slippery wheels and points of failure in the frame make the electric scooter a much more dangerous vehicle by default.)
- conductr 4y ago
  I think this is because of the “clearly not a toy aspect”. Riders often are wearing full motorcycle helmets, pads, and rash guard gear. It people geared up that way on other boards/scooters there would be less injuries too. I had no protective gear which was a mistake. I didn’t fully appreciate how speed would compound the impact if I took a spill. Honestly thought it very unlikely I would fall at all the day I did. I was taking a ride on a route I already knew very well. I also think the initial difficulty of unicycles acts as a good filter so that people with subpar abilities simply don’t try. The rentable scooters are dangerous because people that shouldn’t be on them have a false sense of ability because it seems easy. Until they get to speed or take their eye off the road or something.

closetohome 4y ago

This is absolutely the case. When Onewheels were new they were mostly ridden by people who came from other boardsports. They knew the danger and treated them with the due respect, including taking the time to learn how to properly operate them. In the last couple of years they've been wholesale adopted by techies who treat them like toys. The consequences are inevitable.

fpgaminer 4y ago

I'm not sure this logic applies to the OneWheel. They aren't self balancing like a SegWay where the average person can get on and be fine zooming around within a couple minutes. The OneWheel only does about half the balancing work, you have to do the rest, and learning to ride one can take days or longer. During that time you'll fall many, many times. It also doesn't take much to eat shit on it even as a skilled rider (1). You'd have to be a complete moron not to anticipate it throwing you at any moment. Also the OneWheel, at least the Pint, can only go up to 15mph, and only on perfect conditions on the most aggressive settings. (1) I had several weeks under my belt before my last incident and still ate asphalt because the cutout in the sidewalk I was going down as a little steeper than I had thought. The board was angled down just a smidge too far because of this, caught a lip where the asphalt met the sidewalk, and "physics took control". EDIT: Addendum: That isn't to say parent comment is wrong about other boards/etc, or that the CPSC is wrong.

sometimeshuman 4y ago
"The OneWheel only does about half the balancing work" -- It's more like 99% of the work and I defy anyone to stay balanced and keep riding free wheel if the power suddenly cuts out. The OneWheel's balancing algorithm is so good it gives the the illusion of competence after less than an hour.
- BuildTheRobots 4y ago
  > I defy anyone to stay balanced and keep riding free wheel if the power suddenly cuts out. Does the wheel actually freewheel if the power cuts? I've not played with one (yet), but with the reports of them dipping forward, I was curious if the wheel/motor actually locked up.
  - rx_tx 4y ago
    I think it's because as the rider is leaning forward to indicate a desire for forward motion, the board drives the motor to move you forward, but also counters the natural tendency of the front lip to just touch the floor. If the motor cuts off while you are leaning forward, the lip will immediately hid the floor and stop you. And your muscle memory isn't expecting that kind of balancing, having been used to the board "fighting you back" on leaning forward too much.

girvo 4y ago

The amount of people I see on e-scooters with absolutely horrid body positioning, unaware they can use their body weight to stop much quicker scares me. That and the lack of helmets. I ride mine as safely as I can, and have 5000 kilometres done so far. I’ve had to drop the scooter and bail a couple of times, but mine maxes at out at 25km/h for good reason. Faster than that on tiny wheels is a horrible idea.

renewiltord 4y ago

I genuinely do not believe any OneWheel riders are in this category. Loads of things aren't safe and we still let people ride them. I don't have a OneWheel, but my friends and I have beat those light-up speed signs enough times on bikes, longboards, skateboards, you name it. It's fun as fuck, and maybe you can die so you should wear a helmet but preventing people from playing with death is bullshittery.

nraynaud 4y ago

funny, I was about to build and electric skateboard, then I thought: "hum, I'm an out of shape 100+ kg slob, maybe 1) I shouldn't take a heavy fall from a standing position 2) use my muscles for transportation". So I got a non-electric bike, because I'm too lazy to walk.

Aeolun 4y ago
Hmm, I don't think people using bikes are too lazy to walk. Then you'd use an electric bike. People using a bike are too busy to have time for walking. Using a bike is just as much effort, just condensed over a shorter period of time.
- WiseWeasel 4y ago
  Biking a given distance is significantly more energy efficient than walking thanks to the wheels maintaining your momentum and decreasing friction. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_efficiency_in_transport https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_efficiency_in_transport
  - Aeolun 4y ago
    More energy efficient just means you can expend the same energy and go faster :D
Broken_Hippo 4y ago
To be fair: I simply cannot ride a bike in my area - I moved to a mountainous area about 10 years ago. I'm fine on flat stretches, obviously OK downhill, but uphill is a struggle. A half a mile uphill is no joke. I walk because I can't realistically ride a bike. An e-bike would allow for slightly faster transportation and the ability to go up somewhat steep inclines. Since the ones around here are all electric-assisted (you still have to pedal), it means that I'd at least get some movement out of it.

blastro 4y ago

Riding an electric skateboard up and down the hills of San Francisco was one of the most dangerous and exhilarating things I've done, and was only made possible by the years of skateboarding and snowboarding experience I was lucky to have. I completely agree with your take, it was akin to a full day of snowboarding in terms of the athletic load it put on my body, and constant danger I seemed to be in. There are so many opportunities to hurt yourself and only a few ways to safely navigate the random situations you encounter. I'm glad I got out without serious injury.

asdff 4y ago
Skating San Fransisco Hills are certainly for the brave: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnzgRB8qH4k https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnzgRB8qH4k

jerrysievert 4y ago

Heck, i went over the handlebars of a razor scooter in Palm Springs (bad place to ride anything with small wheels) in my early 40’s. Thankfully, i just came out bloodied (i still have the scars). I would hate to try to do that with something at a higher speed.

TranquilMarmot 4y ago

As a teen, I broke three of my limbs in separate longboard incidents. Eventually I learned the lesson and stopped doing it hahaha

green-salt 4y ago

Agree. Near a building under construction I was on my Boosted board riding along probably around 6-8 mph and couldn't see a water hose that was strung across the road, and went flying off. I was in protective gear and probably would have otherwise had some kind of head trauma. I've skiied and bicycle regularly so those played in to me not breaking anything. I wasn't brave enough to turn the speed maximum up beyond the regular setting.

hemloc_io 4y ago

Saw one of these fail on mission street at speed and dude was launched into the intersection. He was ok bc he had a full armor suit on, coming from a motorcycle background you gotta respect the speed. Looks like a ton of fun thou and suppppper cyberpunk :)

wodenokoto 4y ago

> and multiple reports of serious injuries after the product failed to balance the rider or suddenly stopped while in motion. According to the callback this is a technical problem, and not of unskilled users.