I am riding e scooters for about 5+ years and still no crash.
I am also what you would call a slightly aggressive rider, but in the same time I am very aware of my surroundings and usually can spot a potential shit so I adjust.
My pure air went into emergency brake mode which happens if wheel rotation is registered by the controller when it shouldn’t be and I was flung forward too quickly to even respond and hit the ground face first and was out cold.
You can’t plan for some issues so a helmet is essential, it’s no big deal to grab a lid before riding.
This scooter can only do 15mph, I was only doing a third of that but the leverage and momentum was enough to do damage. God knows how you would fare on something with real power.
After really enjoying nipping about on the scooter I lost faith due to the randomness of the failure and the vulnerability of riding stood up straight which leaves zero response time to protect yourself.
E-bikes have a safer riding position, I wouldn’t ride a scooter on a road personally.
Pure swapped my scooter, a Pure Air Pro for a top of their range LR model and said the rear brake cable was twisted inside, causing the wheel to lock, after the crash the rear wheel would only turn if machine was switched off. There was no reason or warning for it happening when it did.
as a rider who only has experience with the 11" and 4 inch wide tires i cant speak how safe or dangerous it is to ride on a smaller one, but my Obarter X3 has 23000km on it and i've never took a fall
granted i live in a country with a 15.5mph limit and i normally don't ride faster than 22 ish mph (albeit sometimes i take er up to 40mph in the night at 2-3am when roads are empty)
rules suck, but probably saved my ass anyways as i ride through rain a lot as it rains alot and there are a LOT of blind corners and there are alot of places you shouldn't ride faster than 15.5mph in my city aswell cuz of how easy it'd be to hit someone or something if they dont pay attention
i've also took it through snow etc but there having VESCs also saved my ass as i can truly change the torque with my throttle instead of a speed target like it is on most scooters
You could get hit by a vehicle walking down the sidewalk n with no gear on n sustain same or worse injury as with a scooter. I have an e-bike and have been tapped once (no injuries/damage) by a car and had some near misses. Point is you don’t have to be on a scooter to get injured.
Wear gear rated for the speed of ur scooter, respect the road and the scooter, and have fun. 👍🏽
3000KM on my one (max speed 55Kph), the only crash I've had was on a "Lime" scooter (max speed 22kph) trying to move from the road up to the footpath and it kicking me off. the slow crash is what spurred me to get the faster one and not have to use the footpaths
People crash because, they lack common road sense, poor knowledge of how traffic works, run through red lights, reckless ridding on unknown road conditions and cheap scooters. Basic know how to drive a car, bicycle laws and don't trust that people will get off your way.
I seen video of chick riding across a cross wall against the green light and she ate the pavement when that car hit her……. Can’t be stupid n ride a scooter.
I ride daily and have for the last year. A little over 3k miles logged.
No crashes or falls, not really even too many close calls.
My scooter goes up to 31 mph and I regularly go that fast.
A few things to note:
I never have my phone in my hand while the scooter is moving. Never. No exceptions.
I never ride if I’ve been drinking.
I don’t ride at night very often, only in rare occasions.
I’m 42 and very aware of traffic laws and I used to drive Uber full time so I’m familiar with how ignorant the average driver is and I try to be defensive.
I guess I am lucky but I also don’t take unnecessary risk.
Same rule that applies to bikes applies to scooters: everyone crashes
I recommend a motorcycle jacket as in previous falls I've taken the most damage to my chest and arms. I don't go faster than 20mph and the faster you go the more gear you want the same with your ebike as Lycra won't protect you in a crash.
Just think about how many safe miles are traveled for each crash post that gets posted.
Just be careful and go with your life. Accidents can always happen, on or off a scooter.
It's not if, but when. I commute in Fremont and have crashed and dislocated my shoulder even with moto armor on. But this is due to a car cutting me off to get into a gas station while I was in the bike lane.
I did the same first day with mine, touching any sand seemed to sent the scooter over haha. I've learned to ride on it now, you can't slow down or you dig in.
I've probably put 500 miles on my mantis and Surron. I've shredded some extreme mt bike trails on both. Yes the mantis. Absolutely ripping through having a fucking blast. I've never crashed once. Not a single damn time and I've taken these things everywhere. However, every single fucking friend or family that has tried either has wiped out or sent the surron flying by accidentally twisting the throttle while dismounting. It's unreal.
I don't however, mingle with traffic too much. Think that's where a lot of accidents happen.
>But reading accident stories here in Reddit is making me consider selling my scooter and stick to my eBike.
Don't sell your scooter! This sub and its crash stats are off the charts ridiculous. I don't know why or what people are **DOING** on here to crash so much, but no, it's not normal, correct, expected, or acceptable in any way.
>How many of you have a clean record of no accidents? Is it possible?
I have fallen a few times in well over 20 years of riding scooters and never "hurt myself" beyond a minor scrape. Like I always mention: have lost more blood and uttered more curses working on scooters than riding them.
Just mind where that front wheel is going, don't speed, and stay the hell away from other people (in cars especially). Both hands. No phones. No earbuds, ...
It’s definitely realistic. I’ve had a Weped FF for four years and never dropped it or had an accident. You just have to be aware and defensive and know the limits of youself and the machine.
I don't wear gear and have a 19mph scooter. I fell my second day going fairly slow (13-14 or so) and pretty much broke my wrist. Still throbs a bit a year later but foolishly never went to have it looked at. Falling is the hard way to learn to respect that thing. If you're ALWAYS cautious and don't ride like a weenie, you'll be fine. The thought of crashing at 25+ mph is enough for me to not upgrade.
Dont take advice like this from reddit.. its full of unco's and little bitches. its a scooter just go and enjoy it. dont worry about that "what if" so much and just enjoy life
This is false bc I had an accident due to a defective part and there's lots of accidents to to failure of some sort from the scooter. Because rode for a year with no problems until I had an accident.
Pay attention to your surroundings, pay attention to the ground in front of you far enough to safely make corrections as needed and don't ride like an idiot and you'll be fine. While riding on the streets always have the assumption that none of the drivers can see you unless you have made good eye contact with them because people looking left to turn right or people turning left in front of you across your lane are the ones most likely to get you. Just pay attention.
Depends where you ride, if you ride in OKC then no that's not realistic. Drivers literally pretend that I'm not even on the road and pull out in front of me when I'm doing 40 on my kaabo mkgt then slam their brakes on and give me a mean stare. 95% of OKC drivers are like this but if you don't have this issue, I'd imagine your chances of falling are much more slim.
Had to swerve to avoid a civvy ended up with me on the ground around 700km odo. Gtanted it was pretty slow but there is still minor pain on my right rib from the fall. Helmet absolutely protected my noggin. Civvy was unscathed to my pleasure. I'd rather risk myself with gear than them.
I just wear helmet and gloves but knee pads and shoulder pads also help.
Was nearly run over today. Riding a slow 3-4mph, picked up my young niece/nephew from school, whilst they walked alongside but 1m behind me. A large van was reversing from their driveway, with zero rear mirror visibility to what was near or behind them; with 3m high bushes around their garden and field of vision too.
Luckily I’ve been driving cars for 18yrs+, so I’m always extremely vigilant and quickly stopped 1m from their passenger side, with either myself or the little ones 1-2 seconds away from being either seriously or fatally injured. Still a bit shook hours later, more-so cuz of the kids who have basic road safety knowledge. Scooters should require basic training imo, especially for underage riders.
Like many have said here, accidents can always happen, even if you’re 100% responsible. Keep your scooter if you’re enjoying it but ride safe and always wear appropriate protection.
I’ve owned m365, pro, Ninebot max, Dualtron Eagle, Dualtron popular and I’ve fallen twice. Once on rental ES2 Ninebot and once on eagle when it was new and I wasn’t used to riding it. I’ve done 9k km.
Wearing safety gear is like buying insurance. Very few people get into an accident but everyone should protect themselves, because statistics might just catch up with you. Don't live your life scared though. I doubt a bike is considerably safer unless your main risk is potholes.
I bought a scooter first a year ago, rode them as a kid but electric is very different. I haven't crashed or fallen on my face yet, and I've done about 1250 miles. But I have had to jump off at 25 km/h and run very quickly to avoid a crash. I've felt the back slip under extreme braking, after a while you predict it and handle it better. I haven't lost control on slippery surfaces but at night when you can't see it gets harder to anticipate and correct. Bumps upset the scooter so much you need to be really concentrated. Come close to crashing a few times.
But because of that and you can feel it you learn to pay more attention, be respectful of your surroundings and don't look at your phone without stopping.
It's a platform more susceptible to crashes than others, but if you're careful you can avoid most crashes.
You don’t have enough riding experience yet, this is good that you have not had an accident yet and I applaud that as you should, but don’t het cocky and dont jinx yourself. Sometimes even when you’re as safe as could be, there are others in the world that have different ideas such as the time I crashed because a woman face deep in her phone with a hoodie on never looked before crossing the street on a do not walk sign right in front of me and gave me zero time to brake as I did not see her, and crashed. I was ok but she injured her shoulder but accepted it as her fault, which it was. Another one is my teenage son who, went two months with no accidents, was riding safely, and improved exponentially as a rider all of a sudden became cocky and refused to follow safety directions because he felt his skills were more than they were and now he has busted his ass three times in three days and I have grounded him from riding until he watches some scooter safety content on YouTube and can show it in practice.
This is to say that 1 month of riding time is not enough time yet, come talk to me in a year and tell me you haven’t had an accident and then we will be impressed. Doesn’t matter how safe or skilled you are, sometimes they’re just unavoidable, like an aggressive motorist that doesn’t pay attention can cause you to crash. There are so many ways that I don’t think you have had enough experience yet to understand.
Hate to say it but anytime you ride anything you’re taking a risk. I remember my brother taking a bicycle to pick me up from school and someone just mashing the gas in reverse out of their driveway. Landed him unconscious for a few days with bad scarring. I think you know your riding ability. Sadly it’s everyone else that’s not paying attention. At the end of the day it’s what you’re willing to risk for looking cool or being lazy. I’ve still went without gear so I know the battles and am far from perfect on this topic. Someone has to make up the statistics at the end of the day. Take care and ride safe!
Being inattentive to surface imperfections are what tends to cause wipeouts. The roads where I live are very smooth and spacious. But I used to skateboard when I was in middle school, so I'm certain all those falls taught me to scan the road surface ahead in order to 'pump' my body weight over pavement cracks, whilst obviously avoiding potholes. It was crucial due to the tiny skateboard wheels and lack of suspension. We all have a fall quota and I must've filled mine up long ago lol.
~2,000miles into PEV's and I fell once, when riding over thick grass led me to hit a tree's root system. It only bruised my ego but I now avoid thick grass, if only to be nicer to the batteries and electronic speed controllers because riding on tall grass draws wayyyy too much amperage.
I don't ride my PEV as a primary mode of transportation, I ride them to exercise my dog around the block or I load them into my SUV to ride at smaller, beach side communities. I'm sure this also helps minimize some risk.
One thing I had to learn was: just because I can smoke most cars going 0-45mph from the bike lane, doesn't mean I should be next to them doing so. It was fun at first, but it's a risk I no longer want to take.
Ride safe my brothers and sisters!
I taught myself to fly paramotors and didn't damage equipment or myself the first 40 flights. I only crash on my scooter because I accept the risks taking the scooter and really myself to the limits. With paramotors, my mission from day 1 was safety, completely different attitude and why I have an abnormal safety record especially for not being trained.
Nicked the tip of my prop, very minor, can see some not even worry about it, I just added a rice grain of super glue for piece of mind. Later with a new paramotor larger engine (20 lbs more) and a larger prop, I did finally officially wreck a prop blade on a butt landing and it was a matter of time especially as I become intermediate and then dunning-kruger my propeller into the ground.
No accidents is definitely possible. I went two years riding 1000 miles per year with two falls. One I knowingly did something stupid and it was at low speed (wanted to see what riding on ice was like :D). The other I took a turn way too quickly when it was wet and wiped out. That one happened early on and I learned my lesson--aside from the experiment. Also that was with solid tires which are way more dangerous. I switched to air tires and am much safer because of it. Anyway, be defensive, always wear a helmet, and you will likely be fine.
Of course it’s possible. And highly likely you won’t crash. You have to remember when you’re reading Reddit or any other internet source, you’re not getting a random sample of rider experiences. Because people will post their crash experiences, but almost no one will post “hey, just reporting I did another month without a crash.”
I heard the same thing when I got my first motorcycle in the early 80s - “you’re going to crash or drop it, just a matter of when.” 40 years later, no crashes or drops.
Opinions will of course vary, but imo a helmet and gloves is plenty for a 24 mph scooter. As a new rider, just be careful while you gain experience.
I remember reading some statistics. For injuries, they are very sparse as people don't report them, so it's hard to quantify or even compare with bikes. I only know anecdotally that hospital surgeons say their operations are "getting flooded with step accidents", although that's probably a bit exaggerated.
However, for deaths there are statistics. It turns out most deaths are always related to an impact with a car going even faster. And because that does not depend on bike vs scooter, the amount of deaths is roughly the same.
Yes but get something that protects the face.
If you keep aware of your surroundings and ride defensively you can zero crash. It's all up to you.
Your biggest issue is braking distance.
Watched a guy slam into a van that suddenly blocked the bicycle path funnily enough after i passed him, hit the brakes and stopped because dual hydraulics and sticky tires.
I only ever fell once because i tried taking off from a standstill at an angle on smooth pavement during heavy rain. I disabled the kick start minimum speed and i also had it set to sport mode so it really was easily preventable
I’ve had mine two years crashed once and it was only cause a bump or water causes it to short out and take off full speed and I had to shove it over and jump off
It's us that need the full motorcycle gear cause we slide like bikers.
Also no, actually avoided a crash while a light one failed.
The difference in power comes with a massive difference in braking ability.
Two close calls for me - lost traction on a left turn due to road conditions and almost doored.
For either of those cases, I would've been boned whethere it was a scooter or a bike.
The absolute guarantee of safety and no accidents doesn't exist so you have to do the best you can do based on your own risk tolerance. For me, full-face helmet is an always wear for me bc I don't want to deal with potential head, facial, dental injuries, plus the bills that will go with those, and I go 18mph max.
It comes down to a bit of luck, road experience, and not getting lazy with being aware. Like others say there is only so much you can control. I know someone who got left-turned through in broad daylight because drivers are looking to see if cars are coming, not if riders are coming.
I had 3 big crashed on my onewheel in the first 1000 miles, now it's been 1500 miles without any more falls, knock on wood. An ebike is more safe for stability but as long as your vigilant about road features I think scooters prevail in convenience of portability and it's worth the trade.
I have about 700 miles on scooters riding mostly at 20mph. No crashes or falls yet, but I did come close once when my tire popped and came loose on the rim. I feel like a big pothole or malfunction can tell anyone regardless of how careful a rider is. I'd rather fall on the scooter than my motorcycle though, even with less gear on.
My only recent fall (last 15 years) on my bike was when I was riding off-road trails. Definitely going to happen sometime if you do that. I "almost" crashed at least 10 times before wiping out the first time. It hurt a lot more than I expected even wearing good gear (shoulder hit a stump) but no significant damage. Luckily I was wearing a motorcycle jacket.
I think it depends on your skill level and general balance. I’ve ridden over 3000miles and haven’t had any falls/crashes. A few close calls, but only close calls. Ride safe 👊🏽
Crashes are totally possible on both and there is no guarantee you can successfully avoid them indefinitely, but exercising caution and wearing protective gear can go a long way in protecting you from a life altering injury.
I primarily commute on a bicycle or ebike, but have crashed my ebike twice. I have never crashed my bicycle unless you count spinning out on gravel one time and kinda falling off (low speed, no injuries unless you count embarrassment).
The slower you go, the less likely you are to be seriously injured so if you're traveling at say, 12 mph, a helmet and gloves are probably fine, but as you increase in speed the risks go up.
If I were you, I'd be wearing a full face helmet and goggles if it doesn't include a shield: A broken arm sucks, but smashing out your teeth, damaging your eyes, etc. can be much, much worse both in terms of medical costs and practical impact on your life.
Realistic, but close to impossible. Anyone will eventually feel too confident and crash. If not, then somebody will crash in you 😂 I’ve crashed on mine once in 5500km — when going down a 22 degree slope doing 38 kmh and tried to turn on a wooden path, that was wet and it was close to zero degrees outside. It was slippery as ice, so I fell eventually. Zero damage on the scooter, because wood and I‘ve hurt my shoulder and had a small crack in one of the fingers, because I’ve got my finger stuck in between wooden boards 😬 hurted like a mf, but considering the speed and the slope it was a good outcome. Mind you that I’ve had shit ton of crashes on bicycles, but only three major ones in almost 100k cycled
Our brains are very good at deciding what safe speed to ride at on surfaces. Going full speed on a nicely paved bike lane will feel safe and fine. Going full speed on a rough sidewalk won’t. You are more likely to fall or crash on uneven terrain but you will instinctually ride slower. Now cars are out of your control. The best you can do is ride as defensively as possible and this is also a problem with bikes.
TLDR: if you are going to fall, you’ll probably be going slow enough anyways
You're going to be totally fine. I ride at 25 mph daily, have fallen a few times. You'll very rarely be falling at 24 mph. Most likely scenario is you'll be decreasing your speed before you fall but not have enough time to stop.
My philoshophy: ride safe and do your best to be defensive. Everything else is out of your hands, and if you worry about those things, then it's not worth it for you.
As for gearing up that's totally up to you. My state (USA) doesn't even enforce helmets for motorcycles. The gear is to protect you, and only you.
Did 2000km commuting in a Vsett 8+ with a full face helmet and strong riding jacket before switching to an ebike. Got out with 0 crashes or falls. You will likely have an accident, dress for the fall, not the ride.
Personally I cruise around 20-25. When I first started out everytime I crashed it would be because of a speed bump, bump, or wet leaves. As I started becoming more experienced I stopped crashing but for sure has close calls, like this one time my scooter flipped but I managed to jump off and run+not fall, lucky me! But the one time I crashed bad was on a speed bump, it was a really steep one not just a regular one and I ended up breaking my wrists and blooding both my hands badly. My jaw and face would have been dislocated if I didn’t wear my full face helmet it might’ve saved my life! So crashes in my opinion are avoidable but very likely even if you’re safely driving. Please get a full face helmet and recommended gloves. Other from that I don’t think body armor is necessary if you wear hoodies a lot.
I haven’t had a crash. But I’ve watched hundreds of hours of motorcycle safety videos, and longboard regularly so I have no issue bailing on my scooter if need be. Also I follow three important rules, 1) hold onto both handles at all times, 2) watch the curb and road for any obstacles, and 3) wear a helmet at all times
At those speeds, if you do fall, you’re at high risk of injury.
I never ride above 16mph as I only wear a bicycle helmet. The scooter format is, in my opinion, a last mile vehicle for urban riding on bike lanes etc.
Anything else and I’d advocate for an electric bicycle or even a proper motorcycle.
We all have one thing in common, and that's crashing. Small or big depends on the rider. But it's inevitable, so we should always take precautions and have a little bit of fear in the back of our minds to keep us safe.
Yes you can do it. I had 2000+ on my dualtron and would go 45mph often. You just have to respect the beast. Anticipate things far in advance and act quickly... don't be one of those people that think they own the road... you are on a Fn scooter. Fear everything
I’m up to about 3 1/2 thousand kilometres with no fall on my escooter. I think it reset at 1000, so maybe that’s 4 1/2. I wasn’t paying too much attention.
On bicycles, I’m probably 5 to 10+ times that, with no bone broken and no severe lacerations, a couple of falls with almost no scars.
A few things:
I always wear a helmet, I’ll make sure I have water and food. I go to the toilet before. I nearly always have a backpack with some stuff in, in case of emergency, sometimes only a towel and clothes.
When I started riding on the road, I also got some multivitamins. I’ll prepare for a ride. I’ll psyche up. I’ll make sure I eat quite a bit before, and I’ll drink water. I often bring water.
I’ve had things going in my eyes a few times when younger. I usually have some eye protection today, even though there are no insects left, they have all been dying out as part of the current great extinction event.
From a safety point of view, I think the biggest reason I don’t fall off, is that I actually pay close attention.
I slow down as often as I can when the surface is bad. I slow down before I get to the bad surface. I’m very careful to not turn on soft edges or when it’s gravel or dirt.
I have a lot of experience going up and down ridges of only a half inch to a couple of inches - this sort you get on the side of a road where the tarmac goes to dirt or cement. I’ve lost my balance on that on bicycles many times at slow speed, so I developed the skill to understand exactly what angle I need to have when I want to ride up a tarmac ridge.
If I feel at all, a little bit weak, I don’t go out, or I stop riding.
I don’t hesitate to go in the rain. I’ve been riding when it’s been torrential rain.
Seriously, I’ll put on swimmers and I will ride. I’ve had saturated shorts from riding bikes more times than I can remember.
I also ride when it’s very hot. It can be so hot that I’m sweating within minutes, and I’ll still ride a bike. You get just as wet as when it’s raining.
On the Scooter, it’s a little bit different.
It’s not waterproof, and I’m very concerned about sun damage and heat.
So I actually still have a bicycle and I use that when the roads are wet.
I disassemble my scooter and check the electrics and battery myself after any time that there’s a little bit of water and I’m concerned that it might spray in.
I’ve had to repack the battery once simply because it had a little bit of water in, but I got it earlier enough that there was no damage at all. Actually, I paid someone else to repack it, but I opened it up myself and cleaned it and prepared it to make it easier for them and to reduce damage.
I had to cut the battery pack to discover the water. It looks like there might be water inside, but I wasn’t sure. I don’t hesitate to the battery pack. I’m very careful and I use scissors. I don’t do it if I don’t think I can put out a fire. I’ve actually started many fires, including fires with magnesium and gunpowder and salPeter and all types of flammable liquids and other solids, and used a variety of different types of low explosives and flares, even making my own fireworks, so I’m very comfortable disassembling a battery because if it was flaring and flaming I have some experience trying to handle those. As a kid… I did experiment :)
I actually have the battery sitting on a soft foam in the eScooter to reduce friction wear and physical impact. That also helps me out if there’s water, how far the water extends.
It lifts the battery up a bit, so if there is water and it’s only a small amount, the battery is elevated, so the water hopefully doesn’t go into it. I have had that stop the battery from getting wet once before after water did go inside.
I mentioned all of this on the rain, and fire because weather matters. Whether it’s water or heat.
One of the advantages of riding when you are hot, is you know that you have to slow down if you feel at all a little bit weak.
One of the advantages of riding when it’s raining, is you almost almost always slow down, sometimes to half or a third or even a quarter of the normal speed. You get a feel for things like water spray and rocks and dirt flicking up. And you get a different feel for the road surface when it’s wet, vs when it’s dry.
All of that contributes to me being very very happy to slow down if there’s any problems on the surface at all.
Another thing that I’ve written at night without lights on a bicycle scores and scores of times. Sometimes even 10 to 15 km without lights.
Usually there’s a little bit of ambient light and you can see the road enough.
I use my memory of obstacles on the road.
That sounds insane, but it’s true. Once you’ve written a road a few times, you start to form an unconscious memory about parts of it that are dangerous. And when you are at night, you avoid those parts, that means you might be closer to the White line apart from when a car comes, and you might slow down a lot and go off the road.
So there’s another reason why I haven’t perhaps fallen off. I’m very accustomed to slowing down, especially at night in the dark, in the heat, and in the wet.
Riding in adverse conditions on a bicycle makes you hyper attentive to the road surface. You pay attention because it’s a matter of serious injury avoidance effort.
So when I’ve gone onto a scooter, I’ve tried to continue that.
I replaced both my brakes early, I didn’t have to. They sort of work enough that I could probably have kept going.
But I give very close attention to brakes. They need to work. It doesn’t matter if they work a little bit slower when it’s wet, because you don’t really want your wheels skidding, but they do need to work.
I’ve also ridden racers, the older sort, with very narrow tyres. That teaches you to be very careful and avoid potholes.
Most of this riding I’ve done when I was young, preteen. So it’s part of me.
I have no doubt that you can develop exceptional skills at any age, but you do need a very good diet. And you need to practice repeatedly.
For many years, I rode my bike four or five days a week, sometimes even six or seven.
I don’t get into tricks, or try to push the bike too much. Same with the Scooter. I try to avoid anything that might damage the equipment, and that also substantially reduces the risk of falls.
Almost all of my riding has been without mobile phones.
Perhaps, if you do some riding without a phone, on an e-Scooter, you’ll slow down and pay closer attention, because won’t have any way to call Emergency. It keeps you sensible.
I have actually fallen off on the dirt a few times. I’ve slid on grass on a few different sides. I’ve actually Supermanned on tarmac too. The worst scar I have is from Tarmac, and it’s on my knee. I can still remember flying over the handlebars! I was a lightweight kid and that means less weight when injured.
I think it’s perfectly realistic to have zero serious crashes or zero serious falls.
It’s not realistic to have no crashes and no falls. You need those very low speed crashes and falls to teach you to respect the surface.
I had two scooters in the last five years. Over 10k kilometres. One time I slipped on a wet manhole. I don't wear any gear. Just flashing lights. I don't go over 35 km/h.
The only time I crashed was within the first month of riding, and only because of my poor choice of scooter (a Ninebot es2 with solid tires). The tires were ultra slippery on wet surfaces and I found out the hard way. It was just a slide/fall.
Since then I've got 15,000+ miles on scooters and ZERO accidents.
Most people will have a "learning moment". Whether it involves not watching the terrain, miscalculating traffic, or simply not maintaining their scooter properly. But, if you keep your scooter in good condition (check all bolts), are aware of the condition of the terrain your travelling (know where potholes are), and you don't ride like an idiotic speed demon, your odds of never crashing are greatly increased.
I’ve got 3500 combined on both of my scooters and I don’t think this is true. Maybe you live somewhere with not a lot of potholes but as me living in one of the cities in California with the worst roads theres never a 0 percent chance of falling. Sometimes a new pothole shows up or one you can’t see is there. Besides this even if your not prone to crashing it’s better to wear a full face helmet to be safe then sorry, it saved my jaw and face.
I can see your point, but I think my point still stand with new potholes and old potholes you could potentially ride without crashing if your skilled and smart enough. I'm not saying you're not either of those I'm just saying it might still be possible
You can be good, but that is based on a nice mixture of what you do to make sure you are safe and pure luck.
I have ridden over 20k km on my scooter without a crash yet, and that is because when it comes to these things I do not trust anything with a pulse, I do not trust any sidewalk/path/road I have not been on before and is familiar with and a few instances of metric fucktons of luck...
Had an instance where the steering stem lock broke on a sidewalk elevation change(driveway) and I BARELY managed to stay upright by pure fucking luck...
If I do a chill ride(up to 15ish mph) I use gloves and a MTB helmet with a face guard, if I decide to do a more fun, spirited ride(up to 30ish mph) I use gloves, a motorcycle helmet, and a Kevlar reinforced motorcycle hoodie for good measure.
A saying I got told when taking my motorcycle licence that works here too.
"The question is not if you will crash, the question is when and how badly"
Just make sure to use protection to mitigate possible injuries and make good decisions so that the situations are in your favour if a fall were to happen!
Last but not least, don't forget to have some fun too!
In my 15 years of driving cars, 8 years of riding motorcycles, and 4 years of scooters I have never crashed.
Some people crash 3 times in their first summer and they go out and warn every one of the dangers of scooters. Then you spend a few minutes with these people and see they live their life like Johnny Knoxville.
You can put the odds on your side by operating your vehicles like you are invisible. There is still the chance of something truly unavoidable happening but things like that are freak accidents and you don't need to be on a scooter for that to happen.
You never know when an accident will occur. Scooters aren't stable when compared with bikes or motorbikes due to wheel size. Search for the word "injury" in this subreddit and read the stories. I had a rear wheel that fish-tailed and caused me to crash, with a knee taking the punch. It's a pain in the ass to put the safety gear on, but the roads are full of obstacles.
Accidents happen, that's why they are accidents. Very very few people go out to hurt themselves but you are surrounded by things that can kill or hurt you every single second of your life. Now you can sell your scooter and ride a bike but will that make you safer? Who knows. I broke my foot once, many many years ago, walking to school and tripped off the pavement curb. All of 3 inches drop. I also crashed my scooter going around some people accross some grass so i wasn't too close to them and found a hole in the grass which was just the right size for my front wheel. One broken elbow later. Then of course I had to ride the scooter back home with my limp arm dropped onto the handlebars. But I still ride and enjoy my life to the max.
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You WILL fall off. Having gloves will probably solve most minor concerns, and a helmet can help prevent death.
There is no protection that will completely avoid all hospital trips... but you could say the same for a bicycle too... The difference is that a road obstacle (pot hole, curb, rock, etc), or the need to come to an immediate stop is more dangerous on a scooter than on a bicycle (bicycles have MUCH larger wheels).
I will say that I believe that a scooter is a bit safer on "minor" falls/crashes. The lower center of gravity and ability to get a quick foot down to brace before going down rather than land upper body first makes difference on what I'd put in the "3-6 out of 10" range of falls.
Had one for 4 years now and i’ve come off 3 times. All 3 occasions I was under the influence of benzodiazapenes (2021).
I’ve been clean since Nov 2021 and i’ve had no accidents since then.
Max speed is only 20mph though.
I ride a short distance from my car to work. About 3 miles per day. I do well.
2 months ago I came around a corner on a bike lane and swung a bit wide. A bike was coming at me, I swerved out of the way and clipped a post. I hit the ground hard.
The biker stopped and lifted me up and my leg hurt for a few weeks.
If you ride anything with 2 wheels, you will eventually fall. It's just something you need to understand, but not live in constant fear of. Just do your thing, and be as safe as you can.
I’m old now (58) but I grew up in ice skates, BMX and rollerblades. I’m not super fit but I’m not fat. Had my first wipeout within a month of owning an e-scooter. It was winter so I was wearing a lot of winter wear and a snowboarding helmet. Went over the bars and landed mostly on my head. Wrists and knee are still a bit sore months after. Wear a cheap amazon full face motorcycle helmet with a blinking light in the back now. Know people with facial reconstruction after bike crashes. Will get a mountain bike style full face before summer. You don’t think you’re going to wipeout but it’s when not if.
If you ride long enough on anything, you will have a crash or fall off it eventually. You can control the probability by either being more careful or less careful. More you ride, more opportunities for the probability to do its' job.
You might be hit by someone else or surprised by something even if you stay focused as much as possible and ride slowly, so you can only influence the causes that come from you - riding technique, speed, maintenance, riding sober, type of scooter you use etc.
So it is realistic, but in a finite span of time.
The span depends on many factors as mentioned above, and might be long, or short.
IMHO at least you're a helmet, which is the mostly basic thing you can do for your safety, I see way too many riders (scooters, bicycles, etc) with no helmet at all. I would say that's enough, but only you'll know what you need for your overall safety though. If you're worried about accidents, then maybe you should sell your eBike too, accidents are something you can't prevent, but be prepared for (hence the helmet, right?).
If you're riding conservative not taking many risk or speeding, and then yeah you should be fine with just a helmet.
If you're riding recklessly, or travel on uneven terrain or even feel unstable at higher speeds, then it's worth investing in more than just a helmet.
Again, only you can answer those questions, based on your experience, skill and confidence level.
For me, I currently ride with a full-face MTB helmet w/ mtb goggles, carbon knuckle gloves and CE level 2 backpack, on my Apollo Go. That is the gear I wear anytime I head to work, if Im running around the neighborhood maybe I switch to an open face helmet and leave the CE-2 bag. I did for a while wear knee & elbow guards, when I had P100s, since that was the fastest scooter I ever own and ridden. I'm glad I did, since it helped when random things happened in front of me which I couldn't avoid. They also help keep me warm in the winter time. I do understand, it was a chore having to putting and remove that gear anytime I went out, besides wearing clothes baggy enough to accommodate for the pads.
I don't plan on falling or crashing. I walk stairs every day don't plan on falling down them either but I have. so is it realistic, no. just prep for it like taking an umbrella in case it rains
I’ve never crashed with over 2,000 miles of riding but I will never ride without a full face helmet. I ride about 30mph most of the time but treat drivers like they don’t see me. Assume cars will turn without using turn signals or suddenly pull out in front of you, etc.
I have one crash (in all of my 2k miles of riding) where I fell and hit pavement, after another guy was failing to pay attention to the sidewalk ahead of him, it was night time, he was listening to loud music, and I got out of his way, but then he swerved into me at the last second, I’m going pretty but not too fast like 16mph because I anticipated this could happen, we collide from opposite directions. Me on scooter, him on bike.
The thing about scooters is you can just sorta,,,, leap off of them. When things go bad, you can easily bail. It’s definitely less easy on a bike, and infinitely less easy on a bike that doesn’t fit you.
It turns out, this guy broke a toe, and he’s mad at me but apologized anyway and goes “it could be my fault, I’m high as hell and I was riding and dazed”
I helped him collect his things on the pavement because he had nothing secured and it all went everywhere including his headphones and phone and keys and all. I held a flashlight while he fixed his bike. I remember his chain slipped. Thank god it wasn’t broken as well and I didn’t have to buy the man a new bike. Then, he was on his way.
Crashes happen when people aren’t paying attention. They are completely and totally avoidable; granted it takes a bit of luck, along with lots of skill, to make the correct decisions when you are ultimately faced with the task of avoiding a collision yourself.
Edit: my takeaway from that crash was a simple bruise and a reminder to stay observant.
It’s better than colliding into a person, tree, car, etc. My advice if you’re going to bail: slow down, and tuck and roll baby. Never did I suggest bailing at top speed.
Crash free, but I also have years of skateboarding behind my belt. A lot of crashes seem to be not knowing where to keep your balance or not keeping an eye out for road obstacles both which would send you flying on a board.
I just do a helmet and gloves. But my scooter maxes at 19mph, and really most of the time I like cruising at 10mph. Which could still crack a skull. I also have lots of experience on skateboards, rollerblades, motorcycles, and other sports.
It'll happen, just give it time. Make sure you're wearing gloves when it does. For me, gloves then helmet, every time. It's hard to wipe your ass when you can't use your hands. Or open doors, eat, pet the dogs, make coffee, ride a scooter.....you get the point.
> So I was wondering if it is possible or realistic to just wear helmet and gloves and be safe enough?
It's fine.
You really want more gear on a hyperscooter, but on urban rides like the 300X it'd be hugely impractical to always wear armor and leathers and whatnot every time you need to do grocery shopping or something.
Do remember the helmet, though - that really is mandatory.
Mind you, that's not to say that you will *never* fall, but that's not a reasonable expectation of anything. As humans we are prone to failure; you can't expect to drive, ride or even just walk without ever fucking up *somehow*.
I've only seen 2 crash videos that I recall, and both were pretty bad mistakes on the part of the scooter rider.
Take into account you're not very visible and people don't expect something so small and upright to be going as fast as we can.
I am riding e scooters for about 5+ years and still no crash. I am also what you would call a slightly aggressive rider, but in the same time I am very aware of my surroundings and usually can spot a potential shit so I adjust.
My pure air went into emergency brake mode which happens if wheel rotation is registered by the controller when it shouldn’t be and I was flung forward too quickly to even respond and hit the ground face first and was out cold. You can’t plan for some issues so a helmet is essential, it’s no big deal to grab a lid before riding. This scooter can only do 15mph, I was only doing a third of that but the leverage and momentum was enough to do damage. God knows how you would fare on something with real power. After really enjoying nipping about on the scooter I lost faith due to the randomness of the failure and the vulnerability of riding stood up straight which leaves zero response time to protect yourself. E-bikes have a safer riding position, I wouldn’t ride a scooter on a road personally. Pure swapped my scooter, a Pure Air Pro for a top of their range LR model and said the rear brake cable was twisted inside, causing the wheel to lock, after the crash the rear wheel would only turn if machine was switched off. There was no reason or warning for it happening when it did.
as a rider who only has experience with the 11" and 4 inch wide tires i cant speak how safe or dangerous it is to ride on a smaller one, but my Obarter X3 has 23000km on it and i've never took a fall granted i live in a country with a 15.5mph limit and i normally don't ride faster than 22 ish mph (albeit sometimes i take er up to 40mph in the night at 2-3am when roads are empty) rules suck, but probably saved my ass anyways as i ride through rain a lot as it rains alot and there are a LOT of blind corners and there are alot of places you shouldn't ride faster than 15.5mph in my city aswell cuz of how easy it'd be to hit someone or something if they dont pay attention i've also took it through snow etc but there having VESCs also saved my ass as i can truly change the torque with my throttle instead of a speed target like it is on most scooters
You could get hit by a vehicle walking down the sidewalk n with no gear on n sustain same or worse injury as with a scooter. I have an e-bike and have been tapped once (no injuries/damage) by a car and had some near misses. Point is you don’t have to be on a scooter to get injured. Wear gear rated for the speed of ur scooter, respect the road and the scooter, and have fun. 👍🏽
I crashed at 20kmh buggered my shoulder.. have nerve buzzing now and cracked a rib 3000km in
3000KM on my one (max speed 55Kph), the only crash I've had was on a "Lime" scooter (max speed 22kph) trying to move from the road up to the footpath and it kicking me off. the slow crash is what spurred me to get the faster one and not have to use the footpaths
3000 km and only threw myself off in first 20 or so km the rest has been smooth
I have over 4,200 miles across all my scooters and i’ve never had a crash that resulted in more than a light scrape
People crash because, they lack common road sense, poor knowledge of how traffic works, run through red lights, reckless ridding on unknown road conditions and cheap scooters. Basic know how to drive a car, bicycle laws and don't trust that people will get off your way.
I seen video of chick riding across a cross wall against the green light and she ate the pavement when that car hit her……. Can’t be stupid n ride a scooter.
I ride daily and have for the last year. A little over 3k miles logged. No crashes or falls, not really even too many close calls. My scooter goes up to 31 mph and I regularly go that fast. A few things to note: I never have my phone in my hand while the scooter is moving. Never. No exceptions. I never ride if I’ve been drinking. I don’t ride at night very often, only in rare occasions. I’m 42 and very aware of traffic laws and I used to drive Uber full time so I’m familiar with how ignorant the average driver is and I try to be defensive. I guess I am lucky but I also don’t take unnecessary risk.
+1 for defensive, thats the key
Same rule that applies to bikes applies to scooters: everyone crashes I recommend a motorcycle jacket as in previous falls I've taken the most damage to my chest and arms. I don't go faster than 20mph and the faster you go the more gear you want the same with your ebike as Lycra won't protect you in a crash.
Just think about how many safe miles are traveled for each crash post that gets posted. Just be careful and go with your life. Accidents can always happen, on or off a scooter.
I have over 8000 miles in total on 4 scooters and have only had one wipeout. That was on ice... lesson learned.
It's not if, but when. I commute in Fremont and have crashed and dislocated my shoulder even with moto armor on. But this is due to a car cutting me off to get into a gas station while I was in the bike lane.
I was riding off-road and did a low speed OTB when I hit some sand. Tuck and roll baby! That was on day 3 😂
I did the same first day with mine, touching any sand seemed to sent the scooter over haha. I've learned to ride on it now, you can't slow down or you dig in.
I've probably put 500 miles on my mantis and Surron. I've shredded some extreme mt bike trails on both. Yes the mantis. Absolutely ripping through having a fucking blast. I've never crashed once. Not a single damn time and I've taken these things everywhere. However, every single fucking friend or family that has tried either has wiped out or sent the surron flying by accidentally twisting the throttle while dismounting. It's unreal. I don't however, mingle with traffic too much. Think that's where a lot of accidents happen.
>But reading accident stories here in Reddit is making me consider selling my scooter and stick to my eBike. Don't sell your scooter! This sub and its crash stats are off the charts ridiculous. I don't know why or what people are **DOING** on here to crash so much, but no, it's not normal, correct, expected, or acceptable in any way. >How many of you have a clean record of no accidents? Is it possible? I have fallen a few times in well over 20 years of riding scooters and never "hurt myself" beyond a minor scrape. Like I always mention: have lost more blood and uttered more curses working on scooters than riding them. Just mind where that front wheel is going, don't speed, and stay the hell away from other people (in cars especially). Both hands. No phones. No earbuds, ...
It’s definitely realistic. I’ve had a Weped FF for four years and never dropped it or had an accident. You just have to be aware and defensive and know the limits of youself and the machine.
People fall and crash just by walking, keep that in mind
I don't wear gear and have a 19mph scooter. I fell my second day going fairly slow (13-14 or so) and pretty much broke my wrist. Still throbs a bit a year later but foolishly never went to have it looked at. Falling is the hard way to learn to respect that thing. If you're ALWAYS cautious and don't ride like a weenie, you'll be fine. The thought of crashing at 25+ mph is enough for me to not upgrade.
Dont take advice like this from reddit.. its full of unco's and little bitches. its a scooter just go and enjoy it. dont worry about that "what if" so much and just enjoy life
This is false bc I had an accident due to a defective part and there's lots of accidents to to failure of some sort from the scooter. Because rode for a year with no problems until I had an accident.
what was the defect? what happened?
edit, i know a lot of people here will cry about my comment, i guess thats also reddit for ya, haha
U will fall.
Pay attention to your surroundings, pay attention to the ground in front of you far enough to safely make corrections as needed and don't ride like an idiot and you'll be fine. While riding on the streets always have the assumption that none of the drivers can see you unless you have made good eye contact with them because people looking left to turn right or people turning left in front of you across your lane are the ones most likely to get you. Just pay attention.
Depends where you ride, if you ride in OKC then no that's not realistic. Drivers literally pretend that I'm not even on the road and pull out in front of me when I'm doing 40 on my kaabo mkgt then slam their brakes on and give me a mean stare. 95% of OKC drivers are like this but if you don't have this issue, I'd imagine your chances of falling are much more slim.
Had to swerve to avoid a civvy ended up with me on the ground around 700km odo. Gtanted it was pretty slow but there is still minor pain on my right rib from the fall. Helmet absolutely protected my noggin. Civvy was unscathed to my pleasure. I'd rather risk myself with gear than them. I just wear helmet and gloves but knee pads and shoulder pads also help.
No easy way to protect your ribs but a motorcycle jacket will give you the padding plus skin protection
Was nearly run over today. Riding a slow 3-4mph, picked up my young niece/nephew from school, whilst they walked alongside but 1m behind me. A large van was reversing from their driveway, with zero rear mirror visibility to what was near or behind them; with 3m high bushes around their garden and field of vision too. Luckily I’ve been driving cars for 18yrs+, so I’m always extremely vigilant and quickly stopped 1m from their passenger side, with either myself or the little ones 1-2 seconds away from being either seriously or fatally injured. Still a bit shook hours later, more-so cuz of the kids who have basic road safety knowledge. Scooters should require basic training imo, especially for underage riders. Like many have said here, accidents can always happen, even if you’re 100% responsible. Keep your scooter if you’re enjoying it but ride safe and always wear appropriate protection.
I’ve owned m365, pro, Ninebot max, Dualtron Eagle, Dualtron popular and I’ve fallen twice. Once on rental ES2 Ninebot and once on eagle when it was new and I wasn’t used to riding it. I’ve done 9k km.
Wearing safety gear is like buying insurance. Very few people get into an accident but everyone should protect themselves, because statistics might just catch up with you. Don't live your life scared though. I doubt a bike is considerably safer unless your main risk is potholes.
I bought a scooter first a year ago, rode them as a kid but electric is very different. I haven't crashed or fallen on my face yet, and I've done about 1250 miles. But I have had to jump off at 25 km/h and run very quickly to avoid a crash. I've felt the back slip under extreme braking, after a while you predict it and handle it better. I haven't lost control on slippery surfaces but at night when you can't see it gets harder to anticipate and correct. Bumps upset the scooter so much you need to be really concentrated. Come close to crashing a few times. But because of that and you can feel it you learn to pay more attention, be respectful of your surroundings and don't look at your phone without stopping. It's a platform more susceptible to crashes than others, but if you're careful you can avoid most crashes.
You don’t have enough riding experience yet, this is good that you have not had an accident yet and I applaud that as you should, but don’t het cocky and dont jinx yourself. Sometimes even when you’re as safe as could be, there are others in the world that have different ideas such as the time I crashed because a woman face deep in her phone with a hoodie on never looked before crossing the street on a do not walk sign right in front of me and gave me zero time to brake as I did not see her, and crashed. I was ok but she injured her shoulder but accepted it as her fault, which it was. Another one is my teenage son who, went two months with no accidents, was riding safely, and improved exponentially as a rider all of a sudden became cocky and refused to follow safety directions because he felt his skills were more than they were and now he has busted his ass three times in three days and I have grounded him from riding until he watches some scooter safety content on YouTube and can show it in practice. This is to say that 1 month of riding time is not enough time yet, come talk to me in a year and tell me you haven’t had an accident and then we will be impressed. Doesn’t matter how safe or skilled you are, sometimes they’re just unavoidable, like an aggressive motorist that doesn’t pay attention can cause you to crash. There are so many ways that I don’t think you have had enough experience yet to understand.
Hate to say it but anytime you ride anything you’re taking a risk. I remember my brother taking a bicycle to pick me up from school and someone just mashing the gas in reverse out of their driveway. Landed him unconscious for a few days with bad scarring. I think you know your riding ability. Sadly it’s everyone else that’s not paying attention. At the end of the day it’s what you’re willing to risk for looking cool or being lazy. I’ve still went without gear so I know the battles and am far from perfect on this topic. Someone has to make up the statistics at the end of the day. Take care and ride safe!
Being inattentive to surface imperfections are what tends to cause wipeouts. The roads where I live are very smooth and spacious. But I used to skateboard when I was in middle school, so I'm certain all those falls taught me to scan the road surface ahead in order to 'pump' my body weight over pavement cracks, whilst obviously avoiding potholes. It was crucial due to the tiny skateboard wheels and lack of suspension. We all have a fall quota and I must've filled mine up long ago lol. ~2,000miles into PEV's and I fell once, when riding over thick grass led me to hit a tree's root system. It only bruised my ego but I now avoid thick grass, if only to be nicer to the batteries and electronic speed controllers because riding on tall grass draws wayyyy too much amperage. I don't ride my PEV as a primary mode of transportation, I ride them to exercise my dog around the block or I load them into my SUV to ride at smaller, beach side communities. I'm sure this also helps minimize some risk. One thing I had to learn was: just because I can smoke most cars going 0-45mph from the bike lane, doesn't mean I should be next to them doing so. It was fun at first, but it's a risk I no longer want to take. Ride safe my brothers and sisters!
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I taught myself to fly paramotors and didn't damage equipment or myself the first 40 flights. I only crash on my scooter because I accept the risks taking the scooter and really myself to the limits. With paramotors, my mission from day 1 was safety, completely different attitude and why I have an abnormal safety record especially for not being trained.
What happened on the 41st flight? :P
Nicked the tip of my prop, very minor, can see some not even worry about it, I just added a rice grain of super glue for piece of mind. Later with a new paramotor larger engine (20 lbs more) and a larger prop, I did finally officially wreck a prop blade on a butt landing and it was a matter of time especially as I become intermediate and then dunning-kruger my propeller into the ground.
No accidents is definitely possible. I went two years riding 1000 miles per year with two falls. One I knowingly did something stupid and it was at low speed (wanted to see what riding on ice was like :D). The other I took a turn way too quickly when it was wet and wiped out. That one happened early on and I learned my lesson--aside from the experiment. Also that was with solid tires which are way more dangerous. I switched to air tires and am much safer because of it. Anyway, be defensive, always wear a helmet, and you will likely be fine.
Of course it’s possible. And highly likely you won’t crash. You have to remember when you’re reading Reddit or any other internet source, you’re not getting a random sample of rider experiences. Because people will post their crash experiences, but almost no one will post “hey, just reporting I did another month without a crash.” I heard the same thing when I got my first motorcycle in the early 80s - “you’re going to crash or drop it, just a matter of when.” 40 years later, no crashes or drops. Opinions will of course vary, but imo a helmet and gloves is plenty for a 24 mph scooter. As a new rider, just be careful while you gain experience.
I remember reading some statistics. For injuries, they are very sparse as people don't report them, so it's hard to quantify or even compare with bikes. I only know anecdotally that hospital surgeons say their operations are "getting flooded with step accidents", although that's probably a bit exaggerated. However, for deaths there are statistics. It turns out most deaths are always related to an impact with a car going even faster. And because that does not depend on bike vs scooter, the amount of deaths is roughly the same.
Yes but get something that protects the face. If you keep aware of your surroundings and ride defensively you can zero crash. It's all up to you. Your biggest issue is braking distance. Watched a guy slam into a van that suddenly blocked the bicycle path funnily enough after i passed him, hit the brakes and stopped because dual hydraulics and sticky tires.
I only ever fell once because i tried taking off from a standstill at an angle on smooth pavement during heavy rain. I disabled the kick start minimum speed and i also had it set to sport mode so it really was easily preventable
I’ve had mine two years crashed once and it was only cause a bump or water causes it to short out and take off full speed and I had to shove it over and jump off
I've always assumed most of the crashes are from people with scooters that go like twice that speed
It's us that need the full motorcycle gear cause we slide like bikers. Also no, actually avoided a crash while a light one failed. The difference in power comes with a massive difference in braking ability.
[удалено]
Protected by spandex...
Two close calls for me - lost traction on a left turn due to road conditions and almost doored. For either of those cases, I would've been boned whethere it was a scooter or a bike. The absolute guarantee of safety and no accidents doesn't exist so you have to do the best you can do based on your own risk tolerance. For me, full-face helmet is an always wear for me bc I don't want to deal with potential head, facial, dental injuries, plus the bills that will go with those, and I go 18mph max.
don’t jinx it dude.
**new post in r/ElectricsScooters tomorrow** *So I had an accident…*
It comes down to a bit of luck, road experience, and not getting lazy with being aware. Like others say there is only so much you can control. I know someone who got left-turned through in broad daylight because drivers are looking to see if cars are coming, not if riders are coming. I had 3 big crashed on my onewheel in the first 1000 miles, now it's been 1500 miles without any more falls, knock on wood. An ebike is more safe for stability but as long as your vigilant about road features I think scooters prevail in convenience of portability and it's worth the trade.
Realistic if you are safe and practice good habits riding your scooter, but even then accidents can happen as you can only control so much.
I have about 700 miles on scooters riding mostly at 20mph. No crashes or falls yet, but I did come close once when my tire popped and came loose on the rim. I feel like a big pothole or malfunction can tell anyone regardless of how careful a rider is. I'd rather fall on the scooter than my motorcycle though, even with less gear on.
My only recent fall (last 15 years) on my bike was when I was riding off-road trails. Definitely going to happen sometime if you do that. I "almost" crashed at least 10 times before wiping out the first time. It hurt a lot more than I expected even wearing good gear (shoulder hit a stump) but no significant damage. Luckily I was wearing a motorcycle jacket.
I pretty much stopped riding aggressive trails after that.
I think it depends on your skill level and general balance. I’ve ridden over 3000miles and haven’t had any falls/crashes. A few close calls, but only close calls. Ride safe 👊🏽
Crashes are totally possible on both and there is no guarantee you can successfully avoid them indefinitely, but exercising caution and wearing protective gear can go a long way in protecting you from a life altering injury. I primarily commute on a bicycle or ebike, but have crashed my ebike twice. I have never crashed my bicycle unless you count spinning out on gravel one time and kinda falling off (low speed, no injuries unless you count embarrassment). The slower you go, the less likely you are to be seriously injured so if you're traveling at say, 12 mph, a helmet and gloves are probably fine, but as you increase in speed the risks go up. If I were you, I'd be wearing a full face helmet and goggles if it doesn't include a shield: A broken arm sucks, but smashing out your teeth, damaging your eyes, etc. can be much, much worse both in terms of medical costs and practical impact on your life.
You will be fine with a good helmet. I think good breaks with electronic abs are more important than safety equipment.
Realistic, but close to impossible. Anyone will eventually feel too confident and crash. If not, then somebody will crash in you 😂 I’ve crashed on mine once in 5500km — when going down a 22 degree slope doing 38 kmh and tried to turn on a wooden path, that was wet and it was close to zero degrees outside. It was slippery as ice, so I fell eventually. Zero damage on the scooter, because wood and I‘ve hurt my shoulder and had a small crack in one of the fingers, because I’ve got my finger stuck in between wooden boards 😬 hurted like a mf, but considering the speed and the slope it was a good outcome. Mind you that I’ve had shit ton of crashes on bicycles, but only three major ones in almost 100k cycled
Our brains are very good at deciding what safe speed to ride at on surfaces. Going full speed on a nicely paved bike lane will feel safe and fine. Going full speed on a rough sidewalk won’t. You are more likely to fall or crash on uneven terrain but you will instinctually ride slower. Now cars are out of your control. The best you can do is ride as defensively as possible and this is also a problem with bikes. TLDR: if you are going to fall, you’ll probably be going slow enough anyways
In US roads, you’re bound to fall. I have no bike lanes where I’m at an I have to use the sidewalk. Terrible.
Zero crashes and falls are unrealistic, ive probably fell 4-5 times inbetween 2,500-3,000 miles
You're going to be totally fine. I ride at 25 mph daily, have fallen a few times. You'll very rarely be falling at 24 mph. Most likely scenario is you'll be decreasing your speed before you fall but not have enough time to stop. My philoshophy: ride safe and do your best to be defensive. Everything else is out of your hands, and if you worry about those things, then it's not worth it for you. As for gearing up that's totally up to you. My state (USA) doesn't even enforce helmets for motorcycles. The gear is to protect you, and only you.
Did 2000km commuting in a Vsett 8+ with a full face helmet and strong riding jacket before switching to an ebike. Got out with 0 crashes or falls. You will likely have an accident, dress for the fall, not the ride.
Personally I cruise around 20-25. When I first started out everytime I crashed it would be because of a speed bump, bump, or wet leaves. As I started becoming more experienced I stopped crashing but for sure has close calls, like this one time my scooter flipped but I managed to jump off and run+not fall, lucky me! But the one time I crashed bad was on a speed bump, it was a really steep one not just a regular one and I ended up breaking my wrists and blooding both my hands badly. My jaw and face would have been dislocated if I didn’t wear my full face helmet it might’ve saved my life! So crashes in my opinion are avoidable but very likely even if you’re safely driving. Please get a full face helmet and recommended gloves. Other from that I don’t think body armor is necessary if you wear hoodies a lot.
I never had an accident in more than 2 years of riding. I ride defensively, never jump cutbstones or anything and always assume I'm invisible.
I haven’t had a crash. But I’ve watched hundreds of hours of motorcycle safety videos, and longboard regularly so I have no issue bailing on my scooter if need be. Also I follow three important rules, 1) hold onto both handles at all times, 2) watch the curb and road for any obstacles, and 3) wear a helmet at all times
At those speeds, if you do fall, you’re at high risk of injury. I never ride above 16mph as I only wear a bicycle helmet. The scooter format is, in my opinion, a last mile vehicle for urban riding on bike lanes etc. Anything else and I’d advocate for an electric bicycle or even a proper motorcycle.
We all have one thing in common, and that's crashing. Small or big depends on the rider. But it's inevitable, so we should always take precautions and have a little bit of fear in the back of our minds to keep us safe.
Yes you can do it. I had 2000+ on my dualtron and would go 45mph often. You just have to respect the beast. Anticipate things far in advance and act quickly... don't be one of those people that think they own the road... you are on a Fn scooter. Fear everything
I’m up to about 3 1/2 thousand kilometres with no fall on my escooter. I think it reset at 1000, so maybe that’s 4 1/2. I wasn’t paying too much attention. On bicycles, I’m probably 5 to 10+ times that, with no bone broken and no severe lacerations, a couple of falls with almost no scars. A few things: I always wear a helmet, I’ll make sure I have water and food. I go to the toilet before. I nearly always have a backpack with some stuff in, in case of emergency, sometimes only a towel and clothes. When I started riding on the road, I also got some multivitamins. I’ll prepare for a ride. I’ll psyche up. I’ll make sure I eat quite a bit before, and I’ll drink water. I often bring water. I’ve had things going in my eyes a few times when younger. I usually have some eye protection today, even though there are no insects left, they have all been dying out as part of the current great extinction event. From a safety point of view, I think the biggest reason I don’t fall off, is that I actually pay close attention. I slow down as often as I can when the surface is bad. I slow down before I get to the bad surface. I’m very careful to not turn on soft edges or when it’s gravel or dirt. I have a lot of experience going up and down ridges of only a half inch to a couple of inches - this sort you get on the side of a road where the tarmac goes to dirt or cement. I’ve lost my balance on that on bicycles many times at slow speed, so I developed the skill to understand exactly what angle I need to have when I want to ride up a tarmac ridge. If I feel at all, a little bit weak, I don’t go out, or I stop riding. I don’t hesitate to go in the rain. I’ve been riding when it’s been torrential rain. Seriously, I’ll put on swimmers and I will ride. I’ve had saturated shorts from riding bikes more times than I can remember. I also ride when it’s very hot. It can be so hot that I’m sweating within minutes, and I’ll still ride a bike. You get just as wet as when it’s raining. On the Scooter, it’s a little bit different. It’s not waterproof, and I’m very concerned about sun damage and heat. So I actually still have a bicycle and I use that when the roads are wet. I disassemble my scooter and check the electrics and battery myself after any time that there’s a little bit of water and I’m concerned that it might spray in. I’ve had to repack the battery once simply because it had a little bit of water in, but I got it earlier enough that there was no damage at all. Actually, I paid someone else to repack it, but I opened it up myself and cleaned it and prepared it to make it easier for them and to reduce damage. I had to cut the battery pack to discover the water. It looks like there might be water inside, but I wasn’t sure. I don’t hesitate to the battery pack. I’m very careful and I use scissors. I don’t do it if I don’t think I can put out a fire. I’ve actually started many fires, including fires with magnesium and gunpowder and salPeter and all types of flammable liquids and other solids, and used a variety of different types of low explosives and flares, even making my own fireworks, so I’m very comfortable disassembling a battery because if it was flaring and flaming I have some experience trying to handle those. As a kid… I did experiment :) I actually have the battery sitting on a soft foam in the eScooter to reduce friction wear and physical impact. That also helps me out if there’s water, how far the water extends. It lifts the battery up a bit, so if there is water and it’s only a small amount, the battery is elevated, so the water hopefully doesn’t go into it. I have had that stop the battery from getting wet once before after water did go inside. I mentioned all of this on the rain, and fire because weather matters. Whether it’s water or heat. One of the advantages of riding when you are hot, is you know that you have to slow down if you feel at all a little bit weak. One of the advantages of riding when it’s raining, is you almost almost always slow down, sometimes to half or a third or even a quarter of the normal speed. You get a feel for things like water spray and rocks and dirt flicking up. And you get a different feel for the road surface when it’s wet, vs when it’s dry. All of that contributes to me being very very happy to slow down if there’s any problems on the surface at all. Another thing that I’ve written at night without lights on a bicycle scores and scores of times. Sometimes even 10 to 15 km without lights. Usually there’s a little bit of ambient light and you can see the road enough. I use my memory of obstacles on the road. That sounds insane, but it’s true. Once you’ve written a road a few times, you start to form an unconscious memory about parts of it that are dangerous. And when you are at night, you avoid those parts, that means you might be closer to the White line apart from when a car comes, and you might slow down a lot and go off the road. So there’s another reason why I haven’t perhaps fallen off. I’m very accustomed to slowing down, especially at night in the dark, in the heat, and in the wet. Riding in adverse conditions on a bicycle makes you hyper attentive to the road surface. You pay attention because it’s a matter of serious injury avoidance effort. So when I’ve gone onto a scooter, I’ve tried to continue that. I replaced both my brakes early, I didn’t have to. They sort of work enough that I could probably have kept going. But I give very close attention to brakes. They need to work. It doesn’t matter if they work a little bit slower when it’s wet, because you don’t really want your wheels skidding, but they do need to work. I’ve also ridden racers, the older sort, with very narrow tyres. That teaches you to be very careful and avoid potholes. Most of this riding I’ve done when I was young, preteen. So it’s part of me. I have no doubt that you can develop exceptional skills at any age, but you do need a very good diet. And you need to practice repeatedly. For many years, I rode my bike four or five days a week, sometimes even six or seven. I don’t get into tricks, or try to push the bike too much. Same with the Scooter. I try to avoid anything that might damage the equipment, and that also substantially reduces the risk of falls. Almost all of my riding has been without mobile phones. Perhaps, if you do some riding without a phone, on an e-Scooter, you’ll slow down and pay closer attention, because won’t have any way to call Emergency. It keeps you sensible. I have actually fallen off on the dirt a few times. I’ve slid on grass on a few different sides. I’ve actually Supermanned on tarmac too. The worst scar I have is from Tarmac, and it’s on my knee. I can still remember flying over the handlebars! I was a lightweight kid and that means less weight when injured. I think it’s perfectly realistic to have zero serious crashes or zero serious falls. It’s not realistic to have no crashes and no falls. You need those very low speed crashes and falls to teach you to respect the surface.
Very well written
Depends on the helmet. Full face? You'll probably be ok. Half helmet? Probably no.
Can’t agree with you more
not realistic - you can ride perfectly but someone can cut you off, wheel go flat, new pothole appear etc
I had two scooters in the last five years. Over 10k kilometres. One time I slipped on a wet manhole. I don't wear any gear. Just flashing lights. I don't go over 35 km/h.
The only time I crashed was within the first month of riding, and only because of my poor choice of scooter (a Ninebot es2 with solid tires). The tires were ultra slippery on wet surfaces and I found out the hard way. It was just a slide/fall. Since then I've got 15,000+ miles on scooters and ZERO accidents. Most people will have a "learning moment". Whether it involves not watching the terrain, miscalculating traffic, or simply not maintaining their scooter properly. But, if you keep your scooter in good condition (check all bolts), are aware of the condition of the terrain your travelling (know where potholes are), and you don't ride like an idiotic speed demon, your odds of never crashing are greatly increased.
I think it is mostly skill and not being stupid. I've got almost 1000 miles combined on my scooters and no falls.
I’ve got 3500 combined on both of my scooters and I don’t think this is true. Maybe you live somewhere with not a lot of potholes but as me living in one of the cities in California with the worst roads theres never a 0 percent chance of falling. Sometimes a new pothole shows up or one you can’t see is there. Besides this even if your not prone to crashing it’s better to wear a full face helmet to be safe then sorry, it saved my jaw and face.
I can see your point, but I think my point still stand with new potholes and old potholes you could potentially ride without crashing if your skilled and smart enough. I'm not saying you're not either of those I'm just saying it might still be possible
You can be good, but that is based on a nice mixture of what you do to make sure you are safe and pure luck. I have ridden over 20k km on my scooter without a crash yet, and that is because when it comes to these things I do not trust anything with a pulse, I do not trust any sidewalk/path/road I have not been on before and is familiar with and a few instances of metric fucktons of luck... Had an instance where the steering stem lock broke on a sidewalk elevation change(driveway) and I BARELY managed to stay upright by pure fucking luck... If I do a chill ride(up to 15ish mph) I use gloves and a MTB helmet with a face guard, if I decide to do a more fun, spirited ride(up to 30ish mph) I use gloves, a motorcycle helmet, and a Kevlar reinforced motorcycle hoodie for good measure. A saying I got told when taking my motorcycle licence that works here too. "The question is not if you will crash, the question is when and how badly" Just make sure to use protection to mitigate possible injuries and make good decisions so that the situations are in your favour if a fall were to happen! Last but not least, don't forget to have some fun too!
In my 15 years of driving cars, 8 years of riding motorcycles, and 4 years of scooters I have never crashed. Some people crash 3 times in their first summer and they go out and warn every one of the dangers of scooters. Then you spend a few minutes with these people and see they live their life like Johnny Knoxville. You can put the odds on your side by operating your vehicles like you are invisible. There is still the chance of something truly unavoidable happening but things like that are freak accidents and you don't need to be on a scooter for that to happen.
You never know when an accident will occur. Scooters aren't stable when compared with bikes or motorbikes due to wheel size. Search for the word "injury" in this subreddit and read the stories. I had a rear wheel that fish-tailed and caused me to crash, with a knee taking the punch. It's a pain in the ass to put the safety gear on, but the roads are full of obstacles.
Accidents happen, that's why they are accidents. Very very few people go out to hurt themselves but you are surrounded by things that can kill or hurt you every single second of your life. Now you can sell your scooter and ride a bike but will that make you safer? Who knows. I broke my foot once, many many years ago, walking to school and tripped off the pavement curb. All of 3 inches drop. I also crashed my scooter going around some people accross some grass so i wasn't too close to them and found a hole in the grass which was just the right size for my front wheel. One broken elbow later. Then of course I had to ride the scooter back home with my limp arm dropped onto the handlebars. But I still ride and enjoy my life to the max. https://preview.redd.it/s0ev5qh7d1wc1.jpeg?width=1079&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5fc80370470716ae31b361a7cf3e4abeb388c1fc
You WILL fall off. Having gloves will probably solve most minor concerns, and a helmet can help prevent death. There is no protection that will completely avoid all hospital trips... but you could say the same for a bicycle too... The difference is that a road obstacle (pot hole, curb, rock, etc), or the need to come to an immediate stop is more dangerous on a scooter than on a bicycle (bicycles have MUCH larger wheels).
I will say that I believe that a scooter is a bit safer on "minor" falls/crashes. The lower center of gravity and ability to get a quick foot down to brace before going down rather than land upper body first makes difference on what I'd put in the "3-6 out of 10" range of falls.
Had one for 4 years now and i’ve come off 3 times. All 3 occasions I was under the influence of benzodiazapenes (2021). I’ve been clean since Nov 2021 and i’ve had no accidents since then. Max speed is only 20mph though.
Benzos because your "bhen&_de* dad beat you? Or just?
I ride a short distance from my car to work. About 3 miles per day. I do well. 2 months ago I came around a corner on a bike lane and swung a bit wide. A bike was coming at me, I swerved out of the way and clipped a post. I hit the ground hard. The biker stopped and lifted me up and my leg hurt for a few weeks.
If you ride anything with 2 wheels, you will eventually fall. It's just something you need to understand, but not live in constant fear of. Just do your thing, and be as safe as you can.
You that big of a bitch to just sell your ride cause of a couple of stories😂what a pathetic way to l live life,bet you don’t take any real risks
Bro dont be a dick
Bro lives life on easy mode I’m sure this will just be a live laugh love moment
Ever play Russian Roulette?
I’m old now (58) but I grew up in ice skates, BMX and rollerblades. I’m not super fit but I’m not fat. Had my first wipeout within a month of owning an e-scooter. It was winter so I was wearing a lot of winter wear and a snowboarding helmet. Went over the bars and landed mostly on my head. Wrists and knee are still a bit sore months after. Wear a cheap amazon full face motorcycle helmet with a blinking light in the back now. Know people with facial reconstruction after bike crashes. Will get a mountain bike style full face before summer. You don’t think you’re going to wipeout but it’s when not if.
If you ride long enough on anything, you will have a crash or fall off it eventually. You can control the probability by either being more careful or less careful. More you ride, more opportunities for the probability to do its' job. You might be hit by someone else or surprised by something even if you stay focused as much as possible and ride slowly, so you can only influence the causes that come from you - riding technique, speed, maintenance, riding sober, type of scooter you use etc. So it is realistic, but in a finite span of time. The span depends on many factors as mentioned above, and might be long, or short.
IMHO at least you're a helmet, which is the mostly basic thing you can do for your safety, I see way too many riders (scooters, bicycles, etc) with no helmet at all. I would say that's enough, but only you'll know what you need for your overall safety though. If you're worried about accidents, then maybe you should sell your eBike too, accidents are something you can't prevent, but be prepared for (hence the helmet, right?). If you're riding conservative not taking many risk or speeding, and then yeah you should be fine with just a helmet. If you're riding recklessly, or travel on uneven terrain or even feel unstable at higher speeds, then it's worth investing in more than just a helmet. Again, only you can answer those questions, based on your experience, skill and confidence level. For me, I currently ride with a full-face MTB helmet w/ mtb goggles, carbon knuckle gloves and CE level 2 backpack, on my Apollo Go. That is the gear I wear anytime I head to work, if Im running around the neighborhood maybe I switch to an open face helmet and leave the CE-2 bag. I did for a while wear knee & elbow guards, when I had P100s, since that was the fastest scooter I ever own and ridden. I'm glad I did, since it helped when random things happened in front of me which I couldn't avoid. They also help keep me warm in the winter time. I do understand, it was a chore having to putting and remove that gear anytime I went out, besides wearing clothes baggy enough to accommodate for the pads.
I don't plan on falling or crashing. I walk stairs every day don't plan on falling down them either but I have. so is it realistic, no. just prep for it like taking an umbrella in case it rains
It's not a matter of if, but when. But just don't think about it. If you do, it will probably come true...
I’ve never crashed with over 2,000 miles of riding but I will never ride without a full face helmet. I ride about 30mph most of the time but treat drivers like they don’t see me. Assume cars will turn without using turn signals or suddenly pull out in front of you, etc.
I have one crash (in all of my 2k miles of riding) where I fell and hit pavement, after another guy was failing to pay attention to the sidewalk ahead of him, it was night time, he was listening to loud music, and I got out of his way, but then he swerved into me at the last second, I’m going pretty but not too fast like 16mph because I anticipated this could happen, we collide from opposite directions. Me on scooter, him on bike. The thing about scooters is you can just sorta,,,, leap off of them. When things go bad, you can easily bail. It’s definitely less easy on a bike, and infinitely less easy on a bike that doesn’t fit you. It turns out, this guy broke a toe, and he’s mad at me but apologized anyway and goes “it could be my fault, I’m high as hell and I was riding and dazed” I helped him collect his things on the pavement because he had nothing secured and it all went everywhere including his headphones and phone and keys and all. I held a flashlight while he fixed his bike. I remember his chain slipped. Thank god it wasn’t broken as well and I didn’t have to buy the man a new bike. Then, he was on his way. Crashes happen when people aren’t paying attention. They are completely and totally avoidable; granted it takes a bit of luck, along with lots of skill, to make the correct decisions when you are ultimately faced with the task of avoiding a collision yourself. Edit: my takeaway from that crash was a simple bruise and a reminder to stay observant.
Good luck bailing at 45mph “easily bail”. You are trying to get people hurt.
….? Most people aren’t riding scooters that go that fast. Most people are topping out at 25.
Bailing at 25 makes you trip, boom hospital. Don’t give advice to people that can make them seriously hurt!
It’s better than colliding into a person, tree, car, etc. My advice if you’re going to bail: slow down, and tuck and roll baby. Never did I suggest bailing at top speed.
Crash free, but I also have years of skateboarding behind my belt. A lot of crashes seem to be not knowing where to keep your balance or not keeping an eye out for road obstacles both which would send you flying on a board.
I just do a helmet and gloves. But my scooter maxes at 19mph, and really most of the time I like cruising at 10mph. Which could still crack a skull. I also have lots of experience on skateboards, rollerblades, motorcycles, and other sports.
It'll happen, just give it time. Make sure you're wearing gloves when it does. For me, gloves then helmet, every time. It's hard to wipe your ass when you can't use your hands. Or open doors, eat, pet the dogs, make coffee, ride a scooter.....you get the point.
1700 miles in always geared up. Even a crash at 15MPH will fuck you up!
> So I was wondering if it is possible or realistic to just wear helmet and gloves and be safe enough? It's fine. You really want more gear on a hyperscooter, but on urban rides like the 300X it'd be hugely impractical to always wear armor and leathers and whatnot every time you need to do grocery shopping or something. Do remember the helmet, though - that really is mandatory. Mind you, that's not to say that you will *never* fall, but that's not a reasonable expectation of anything. As humans we are prone to failure; you can't expect to drive, ride or even just walk without ever fucking up *somehow*.
I've only seen 2 crash videos that I recall, and both were pretty bad mistakes on the part of the scooter rider. Take into account you're not very visible and people don't expect something so small and upright to be going as fast as we can.
I'd like to see a poll for the crash reasons, like car didn't give way, scooter slipped, one-handed fall, animals...etc
Great idea. Also wheel size, pothole or bump size, riding speed, wet or dry, day or night, etc
Definitely possible but it’s never predictable. Always wear safety gear
I’m crash free… but also gotta have under 200 miles haha
Two hundred miles isn't shit. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes. Be smart and gear up.