E-Scooters E-Skateboards E-Unicycles

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.



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.
Nothing helps a pedestrian or a cyclist when fast e-scooterist will ride in them.
 
I just recently started seeing an E-unicycle in the city. Saw him the other day zipping into traffic from a side street, but the dashcam couldn't see him well enough. Green Goblin made another appearance today on Queen street.


The second guy came up the side walk, then cut behind me in front of a big rig, then weaved his way up the lane. Keep in mind that my rearview camera has a reverse image, so the lanes are on the wrong side. There's no option to change that.

Green Goblin is gonna get himself killed, and everyone will blame the driver.
 
I just recently started seeing an E-unicycle in the city. Saw him the other day zipping into traffic from a side street, but the dashcam couldn't see him well enough. Green Goblin made another appearance today on Queen street.


The second guy came up the side walk, then cut behind me in front of a big rig, then weaved his way up the lane. Keep in mind that my rearview camera has a reverse image, so the lanes are on the wrong side. There's no option to change that.

Green Goblin is gonna get himself killed, and everyone will blame the driver.
No faster than traffic…
 
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.
Lucky we don’t get to see the other side of the story which tragically involves rest of their lives in the hospital room in a bed that inverts every 12 hours so that they don’t get bed sores. If somebody’s got a Deathwish, I suppose riding with no helmet on what is fundamentally a 2 x 4 with an engine on it then I guess that’s why they call America the land of the free and the home of the brave not necessarily smart, but free and brave that is until they go boom boom boom, and end up in a negative gravity bed.
 
How boring… so you’ve never done anything high risk? I mean I get it, but I woulda missed some great adventures in my “yoot”…

And some of the aches and pains in my 70’s are a result of those misspent years and adventures but I’d do it again. Fortunate I guess 40-50 years ago those goofy adventures weren’t at the speeds toys are capable of these days.

don’t get me wrong, I think some brainiacs are just that, but still, no drug gives the same high…almost true…
 
I blasted across a small patch of grass on the escooter doing around 35mph. Why is that bad? The smallest of holes would have ate the front wheel and tossed me on the ground. I should have slowed down but I didn't. It was terrifying yet thrilling when I went thru it and didn't get ejected. I later did a victory lap across the same patch of grass going much slower and found a big hole that I somehow missed! I'm still living on the edge, just wear a helmet now.
 
we have a scooter that my kids love to ride (with me, usually) and is super useful for very short, very fast trips. it’s limited to 24mph but i still ride it in the traffic lane most of the time, because it gets up to 24mph fast and stays there. vehicle traffic around here is in the 15-30mph range.

i think most e mobility devices are on the whole a good thing, getting people out of cars. but the steampunked out dudes on the vertical onewheels/electric unicycles (vs the front-back horizontal board style) are becoming a serious menace, they always seem to be doing a slalom pattern. looks fun as hell, but incredibly dangerous. you can’t pass them safely, and they can’t pass you safely.
 
The Dragonfly, 48v, Dual 500w hub motors, 4-wheel independent wishbone suspension. Available for pre-order in the UK, $1850. Anything like this available in the USA?
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my problem is standing like that for long rides suck. your not moving much and in winter that means your going to freeze. like liked my little scooter the battery died because I did not use it during covid. but it was easier going the mile to them movies or stop on it then getting the trek out
 
Yep long scooter ride for sure but a 4- wheel scooter is different in terms of how much you use your body
 
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. 😜
I, too, like a little adrenaline hit once in a while; at 85 yo it doesn't take much, though. I've sometimes wondered why adrenaline never became a recognized street drug. Seems like it could provide a decent income for the right entrepeneur. Just leap out of an alley shouting "boo" at your client, and then collect your fee.
 
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.
I vote for testosterone as the most dangerous chemical.
 
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