Safety counts!
If you are purchasing a scooter for a children spend the time to educate them about their scooter and safety issues. Do a weekly visual inspection and check wear on the belt or chain, look for cracks in the welds and make sure the brakes are working properly. Require they wear a helmet and bike gloves and advise them not to ride near traffic. Add extra reflective tape and flashing lights to the scooter so that cars can see them coming.
Electric and Motor Scooters Preventive Safety
With the increasing popularity of electric scooters, we thought that we would create an article that outlines a few safety procedures to help electric scooter owner ride more safely and have an enjoyable experience. The single most important safety item that you can do to avoid accident or injury is to be an alert rider. Being alert mean that while you are riding, you should not focus on talking to someone, but should be watching the road or environment you are riding in to avoid potholes, pedestrians, other riders, etc. If you stay alert, you can avoid many of the common causes of injury.
The next most important safety tip is to ride safely. Obviously engaging in risky riding behavior can increase your chances of getting in an accident or of getting hurt. Riders that attempt to do tricks or to go over dangerous terrain are more likely to get injured than other riders all things being equal. If you are a parent, you should also be sure that your child can handle riding an electric scooter and is familiar with the safety tips. If a child is not ready or capable of riding an electric or motorized scooter, then this can be classified as risky behavior. Also, make sure that the scooter that you have selected is appropriate for your child’s abilities.
Another preventive safety procedure deals with riding habits and visibility. Make sure that when you are riding that you obey all applicable traffic rules and regulations. Often, if you do something that drivers or pedestrians do no expect on an electric scooter, you can get into trouble. Also be sure to wear visible clothing so that other riders and drivers can see you and adjust their driving style accordingly. Moreover, do not ride your scooter at night. Most electric scooter does not come with lights and reflectors that would equip the scooter for night driving. If cars do not see you, you may be in danger of being hit.
The final type of preventive safety that you can do is to make sure that the scooter is in working order. A scooter that is functioning according to specification will generally be easier to control. Moreover, keeping your scooter adequately maintained can reduce the chances for injury and can provide you with a better riding experience. Make sure the tires are pumped up and avoid all sharp objects that might damage the tires.
The next portion of these articles on safety will include information on protective gear equipment.
Electric Scooters Protective Equipment
In the last portion of the article, we focused on what I would call preventive safety. In this article I will focus on safety equipment or protective gear that should be worn when you are riding an electric scooter. Generally, a helpful comparison for parents and others concerned about electric scooters safety would be bike riding. This is a helpful comparison because generally most electric scooters travel at speeds comparable to the speeds at which a bike rider would travel. Moreover, both bike and scooter riders are riding a machine that affords them little natural protection (vs. the metal body of a car) from impact in the event of a collision. Consequently, most of the equipment that is used by the bike riders is helpful for the scooter rider.
Helmet: The helmet is an essential for the safe electric scooter rider. The helmet protects a rider against the worst kind of injury, an injury to the head. In many accidents, the use of a helmet has been the difference between life and death for a number of riders. Helmets protect against collision type accidents where an electric scooter rider collides with a car, truck or standing object. The helmet helps to cushion the blow. Moreover, helmets can also be helpful in falling types of accidents or incidents. These can occur if the riders are thrown fro the electric scooter or falls off of the electric scooter. Helmets are usually made out of some type of plastic. Ideally, the helmet should be strapped on so that it will not fall off.
Appropriate Clothing: This is not an essential, but the main purpose of appropriate clothing is to provide the rider with a form of protection against rashes or scrapes. Long sleeve clothing is ideal and although it will not totally prevent scrapes, this type of clothing can do a lot to prevent serious scrapes. Ideally, thicker and more durable clothing is appropriate.
Gloves : these are optional, but often help to reduce scraped and rashes. If you elect to use gloves, be sure not to select gloves that are too thick as those may impede your ability to steer or to navigate the electric scooter.
Wrist Pads : Wrist pads can be helpful to prevent falls on the hands. Wrist pad can help to soften the impact and prevent broken or sprained wrists in the event of collision or fall.
Knee Pads: Same as wrist guards, these protect the knees and prevent knee scrapes and more serious injury in the event of a fall.
Elbow Pads: With elbow pads, you will have three key areas covered by protective gear. These are the three areas that a rider will typically fall on an can prevent injuries.
Shoes: the selection of shoes that the rider uses can be important. You should not ride the scooters using shoes that are slippery or lack appropriate threads otherwise, it may be difficult to stay on the electric scooter. Skateboard shoes can help as some of the same positions used on a skateboard are used to stay on the scooter. However, overall, the scooter is pretty easy to use and stay on (unlike the skateboard) since it had handlebars.
Electric Scooters Advisories
• Scooters are wheeled vehicles. Riding a wheeled vehicle contains certain inherent risks. Riding a bike, skates or a skateboard can have similar risks as riding an electric scooter. Riding an eclectic scooter is dangerous and serious injury or death is possible.
• Wear an ANSI or Snell approved helmet at all times when riding an electric scooter. Be sure to always keep the chinstrap securely buckled. Failure to wear an approved helmet may result in serious injury or death.
• For electric scooters, wet weather impairs traction, braking, and visibility. The risk of accident is dramatically increased in wet conditions.
• Riding at dusk, after dark, or at times of poor visibility is dangerous and can result in serious injury or death since cars and other vehicles may not see an electric scooter rider. An electric scooter rider may not be able to see obstacles in the path after dark.
• Failure to properly maintain the electric scooter may compromise steering action, which could cause you to lose control and fall. Falling can cause serious injury or even death. Push up and down on the handlebar to make sure that the lever is tight.
• Many scooter-related injuries and accidents involve children under the age of eight. Scooters can travel very quickly, and children that age do not always have the judgment or coordination to handle these high speeds. We do not recommend electric scooters to anyone under 18 years of age.
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