E-Scooters E-Skateboards E-Unicycles

[Dave Rocks]

You guys must have seen these in your E-Bike travels? Yes?

Today coming home from work on a very busy 4 lane highway (the bike path is off the road and safely away from traffic).
This dude on a three wheel long board E-Skateboard is cruising in traffic at a very high rate of speed.

Way faster than my E-Bike and I can go 29mph / 47kmh.

I met one guy with an E-Scooter his Scooter did 40 mph, dual electric motors.

Last Saturday I was coming home from an engagement in a car on a major road around 40mph.
A guy on a E-Unicycle blew past us. No helmet, Steam Punk goggles, leather jacket and a long scarf flapping in his speed wake.

 

[fooferdoggie]

most times I see people riding unicycles have a motorcycle helmet and pads. but most of the time they are going way too fast.

 

[rich c]

It's been proven that young people's brains are not fully developed until the age of 25 and thus gives them that indestructible attitude. Increased death rates will drive changes to those devices.

 

[sc00ter]

I passed a VIP gas 50cc scooter on my Apollo Ghost. The Ghost will hit 32mph in 2nd gear. I'm scared to go into 3rd though. One day I was going to work on my gas scooter and a electric unicycle passed me like I was sitting still, and I was going 45mph. Rider was geared up better than I was. Payback for me beating on that VIP!

I also saw a Ariel Rider Grizzly that must have been modded further. It was keeping up with my car going 40mph but wow the motors were so loud! I don't think the gear driven hubs on it were designed to go that fast.

Normally I rarely go over 20mph/out of first gear. The Lime escooter rentals only go about 16mph and the police tolerate them. I don't want to draw unwanted attention. I wear safety gear but I'm currently on the hunt for a better helmet.

 

[jabberwocky]

I have a few electric skateboards. The fastest will hit almost 40mph. I was a skateboarder for most of my young life so still have the balance, but I rarely go flat out. You gotta gear up. Full face helmet, armor, gloves. Not a question of if you’ll fall, just a question of when and at what speed. I mostly ride the roads around town; I’ll cruise the local MUP but you gotta go slow, they don’t turn or brake all that well and pathgoers are just too unpredictable. I’d rather not bowl someone over and give the local popo motivation to crack down on them.

 

[jabberwocky]

I do have a friend with an e-uni. Those can go crazy fast. As with other electric vehicles, getting into the DIY world can get you speed and power well beyond what a smart person would do. I’ve seen DIY esk8s hitting 50-60mph, uphill. Even in full motorcycle gear (which is what those people wear), no thanks.

As for safety, I don’t think the scooters are too bad, but when you get to the e-sk8s and e-unis they take a lot of skill and give you very little mercy or error tolerance. Screw up anything even a little bit and you’re getting ejected.

 

[AHicks]

I do have a friend with an e-uni. Those can go crazy fast. As with other electric vehicles, getting into the DIY world can get you speed and power well beyond what a smart person would do. I’ve seen DIY esk8s hitting 50-60mph, uphill. Even in full motorcycle gear (which is what those people wear), no thanks.

As for safety, I don’t think the scooters are too bad, but when you get to the e-sk8s and e-unis they take a lot of skill and give you very little mercy or error tolerance. Screw up anything even a little bit and you’re getting ejected.

You could be wearing the best available protection, but if the truck following you in traffic isn't paying attention, you're still going to be flattened...

 

[jabberwocky]

You could be wearing the best available protection, but if the truck following you in traffic isn't paying attention, you're still going to be flattened...

True, but it’s a similar situation to riding a bike. You gotta be very aware of traffic around you. The small town where I ride there has very little traffic, and I stick to smaller roads. If you ride in a larger city, you do your best and take your chances. I’m 44 and not quite the adrenaline junky I was when I was younger, but I still like a little hit now and then.

 

[Tars Tarkas]

True, but it’s a similar situation to riding a bike. You gotta be very aware of traffic around you. The small town where I ride there has very little traffic, and I stick to smaller roads. If you ride in a larger city, you do your best and take your chances. I’m 44 and not quite the adrenaline junky I was when I was younger, but I still like a little hit now and then.

Agreed, but other than being run over by a truck, the risks of riding a scooter or a unicycle at 40 - 60 mph far outweigh the risks of riding an ebike at 15 - 25 mph or even 60 mph. Ain't nobody good enough on a scooter or unicycle to avoid an eventual fall! Even on a closed track with no other traffic you probably aren't just walking away from a fall like that.

TT

 

[Stefan Mikes]

E-scooters:

• The public share ones are invaluable on my business travels to big cities.
• The illegal speed e-scooters are very dangerous on, say, Warsaw's bike paths and MUPs. These things are faster than my e-bikes (which I ride deliberately slowly on bike paths/MUPs) while the e-scooter riders utilize the full speed of their contraptions.

It is a shame e-scooters cost a fraction of a good e-bike price and are not really controlled in my country.

 

[jabberwocky]

Agreed, but other than being run over by a truck, the risks of riding a scooter or a unicycle at 40 - 60 mph far outweigh the risks of riding an ebike at 15 - 25 mph or even 60 mph. Ain't nobody good enough on a scooter or unicycle to avoid an eventual fall! Even on a closed track with no other traffic you probably aren't just walking away from a fall like that.

TT

Yeah, for sure. I'd say my esk8 at pretty much any speed is less safe than my ebike at pretty much any speed. Its just an inherently less stable platform. Great for short distance errands though (I run around town to grab food and stuff all the time). I have gone down at ~25mph or so. Managed to jump into the bushes after hitting something I didn't see and just had some scratches and bruises in places the armor didn't cover.

E-scooters:

• The public share ones are invaluable on my business travels to big cities.
• The illegal speed e-scooters are very dangerous on, say, Warsaw's bike paths and MUPs. These things are faster than my e-bikes (which I ride deliberately slowly on bike paths/MUPs) while the e-scooter riders utilize the full speed of their contraptions.

It is a shame e-scooters cost a fraction of a good e-bike price and are not really controlled in my country.

No personal experience with the e-scoots but my read is they have most of the advantages of esk8s (easy portability, can be inexpensive, super maneuverable) just on a vehicle with brakes and better stability and a handlebar. They are popular in my region for people with mixed commutes (train/bus for most of it, with the scooter handling the short distance at the start/end).

Like everything in electric mobility, theres little regulation and almost zero enforcement and its easy to get something that goes ridiculous speeds. Though with both the esk8s and scooters, the faster ones get large and heavy really quickly.

 

[JRA]

Huh, I haven't seen someone but just in the last week I have had two friends from different parts of the West describe to me people on something wearing ff and leathers going like a raped ape. They didn't describe it as a skate board so they must be e uni"s? Whatever some people just have a death wish.

 

[jabberwocky]

Whatever some people just have a death wish.

Self regulating industry. If you ride like an idiot you won't survive very long.

 

[Dave Rocks]

Going back when I was 9 or so to teen years me and my buddies
would want to have these crazy fast electric gizmos.

We had Honda 50 and 70's mini bikes . Good Times!

 

[AHicks]

Our gang as well. Back then it didn't register how bad it was going to hurt if we hit a tree.... or somebody else going the opposite way on the same trail. Both were "lessons" that turned into "experience earned" the hard way....

 

[Stefan Mikes]

theres little regulation and almost zero enforcement and its easy to get something that goes ridiculous speeds.

The regulation is pretty clear in my country; it is also clear in many EU countries. The point is, the users do not care about the law, and the law is not enforced.

 

[BlackHand]

Going back when I was 9 or so to teen years me and my buddies
would want to have these crazy fast electric gizmos.

We had Honda 50 and 70's mini bikes . Good Times!

I spent a lot of time on my little SL70 riding trails and local roads with my friends who had Yamaha trail bikes. Strange bike- it was street legal but too small for almost anyone old enough to legally drive on the streets.

 

[tomjasz]

Society gets the enforcement it insists on. Heck Luna and others have openly promoted and advertise high speed vehicles for years.

It’s OK if someone can afford a WattWagon?

 

[Dorkyman]

Friend of mine is an emergency-room doc. He says young males are great organ donors. A combination of a lack of wisdom and testosterone poisoning.

I rode a large Honda motorcycle on LA freeways back in my 20's, rode all over the western US for that matter, but I was a conservative rider. Even so, I can look back at certain events that could have turned out very badly for me.

 

[jabberwocky]

The regulation is pretty clear in my country; it is also clear in many EU countries. The point is, the users do not care about the law, and the law is not enforced.

I was speaking more toward regulation as to whats for sale and how they are marketed. Companies openly market and sell vehicles (in all areas of electric mobility, not just scooters) that are basically illegal to actually ride anywhere. Many of them imply they are legal, even.

Friend of mine is an emergency-room doc. He says young males are great organ donors. A combination of a lack of wisdom and testosterone poisoning.

As someone who's into the esk8 scene as well, the one saving grace I can see is that the esk8 world is really outspoken about safety gear. Almost everyone wears some level of gear, lots of pressure on people who don't, lots of discussion of crashes and what works and what doesn't. The people who race or run really fast boards tend to wear DOT full face helmets and motorcycle/motocross armor. 50mph is fast for a skateboard but well under what moto gear was designed to protect against. The main danger is idiots in cars, same with everything non-car on the roads.