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CPSC calls for full recall of all Onewheel self-balancing electric skateboards

cpsc.gov

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Re: CPSC calls for full recall of all Onewheel self-balancing electric skateboards

#171

Post by DenisM »

butterguns wrote: post #152
ramesh31 wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

I know how to fall (intellectually). How do I translate that into the real world? I took a nasty fall on my MTB this summer, broke my shoulder. Everything was instinctual and a blur. Can we somehow retrain our innate responses?

Martial arts

Re: CPSC calls for full recall of all Onewheel self-balancing electric skateboards

#172

Post by timo555 »

butterguns wrote: post #152
ramesh31 wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

I know how to fall (intellectually). How do I translate that into the real world? I took a nasty fall on my MTB this summer, broke my shoulder. Everything was instinctual and a blur. Can we somehow retrain our innate responses?

Surfing is a great safe way to learn how to fall.

Re: CPSC calls for full recall of all Onewheel self-balancing electric skateboards

#173

Post by NegativeLatency »

Glide wrote: post #160
conductr wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I bailed at 8mph on an electric longboard and broke my elbow, severely sprained my shoulder and wrist. I even lost some rotation and dexterity in my hand. It's one of those my arm is never going to be the same type injuries. I was 40 but skated and bmxed into my mid-20s and still felt pretty comfortable with my abilities on the ground (gave up on ramps long ago). I knew this was a risk given the speeds and even got a…

Is there something more inherent that makes an electric unicycles more dangerous, other than they make them go ridiculous speeds? I would have thought the larger wheel on an EUC made it more stable and the higher power makes it not have to nosedive. I kind of prefer e-bikes because they are well… normal.

Active vs passive stability

If the e-bike dies you’re just on a bike, if the single wheel dies you’re on an uncontrollable unbalanceable wheel

Re: CPSC calls for full recall of all Onewheel self-balancing electric skateboards

#174

Post by celestialcheese »

butterguns wrote: post #152
ramesh31 wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

I know how to fall (intellectually). How do I translate that into the real world? I took a nasty fall on my MTB this summer, broke my shoulder. Everything was instinctual and a blur. Can we somehow retrain our innate responses?

I know it's not helpful, but from a lifetime of doing really stupid things in action sports, starting young is a lot of it. Falling like anything takes practice, and falling when your 12 is so much less painful than falling when your 35.

Anyone who grew up in the skatepark/terrain park knows the experience of learning new tricks and progression. It's thousands of falls building up the muscle memory to land the trick. Over time, it just sticks (or you hurt yourself bad enough you quit).

Cant really do this when you're old. It just takes less to cause damage, unless you're in excellent shape from doing active and dynamic movements over years of work.

Now to try and be helpful - Martial arts, wrestling and doing low weight dynamic movement exercises will help you train. Also, if you want your whole body to be sore, pick up a skateboard, strap as many pads as possible, and go learn how to ride a bowl at your local skatepark. Guaranteed you'll get lots of fall practice :)

Re: CPSC calls for full recall of all Onewheel self-balancing electric skateboards

#175

Post by supernova87a »

I have watched closely on my commute every day how people use these (SF/Mountain View, etc), and I am stunned at how close to disaster some people are. They put their hands deep in their pockets with the controller, don't wear helmets, have precarious backpacks that change their balance, etc.

You are one larger-than-expected crack in the road from being thrown off the wheel under a bus. At one point I rode scooters to work, but after one such incident (fairly benign but I could see where it was headed) I swore off anything so unstable.

Re: CPSC calls for full recall of all Onewheel self-balancing electric skateboards

#176

Post by WD-42 »

Glide wrote: post #160
conductr wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I bailed at 8mph on an electric longboard and broke my elbow, severely sprained my shoulder and wrist. I even lost some rotation and dexterity in my hand. It's one of those my arm is never going to be the same type injuries. I was 40 but skated and bmxed into my mid-20s and still felt pretty comfortable with my abilities on the ground (gave up on ramps long ago). I knew this was a risk given the speeds and even got a…

Is there something more inherent that makes an electric unicycles more dangerous, other than they make them go ridiculous speeds? I would have thought the larger wheel on an EUC made it more stable and the higher power makes it not have to nosedive. I kind of prefer e-bikes because they are well… normal.

I think it really comes down to the fact that these single wheelers don't support the operator without power. You can stand on skateboard, slow down, and come to a complete halt and it's still working as intended. On a bike you will eventually topple from one side or the other, but the way a bikes works means the rider is supported in a natural position for a long time.

When the one-wheeler loses power it just nosedives, the front hits the ground and they halt immediately.

I wonder if they could save some of the danger by placing small, unpowered wheels in the front and back so when they dip they can at least keep moving.

Re: CPSC calls for full recall of all Onewheel self-balancing electric skateboards

#179

Post by Dylan16807 »

zdragnar wrote: post #79
Dylan16807 wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you saying that 25mph is inherently unsafe? What's the safe speed then, for a normal dry day? Does this speed limit apply to motorcycles too?

Falling from a standing position can be dangerous. "Safe" is a function of the environment you're in and device you're riding- traction, obstacles, intersections, speed of other traffic, visible distance (fog / clear sky / bend in the road), wind, all sorts of things. Motorcycles have different tire sizes, masses and centers of gravity. The speed they can "safely" travel will always be different than a bicycle.

> Falling from a standing position can be dangerous.

If your definition is "nothing is safe" then there's no reason to complain about 25mph in particular.

> "Safe" is a function of the environment you're in and device you're riding- traction, obstacles, intersections, speed of other traffic, visible distance (fog / clear sky / bend in the road), wind, all sorts of things.

So give an example.

Either specify conditions or assume generic conditions.

Don't say someone else's example number is wrong without giving a rough correct number.

> Motorcycles have different tire sizes, masses and centers of gravity. The speed they can "safely" travel will always be different than a bicycle.

Great. That answers my second question of two.

Re: CPSC calls for full recall of all Onewheel self-balancing electric skateboards

#180

Post by blobbers »

Onewheel is a bit of a special case in the sense that if it stops balancing, you tend to "nosedive" (tip forward) causing the front of the board to hit the ground and stop very suddenly, ejecting the rider forward as the back foot lifts and the front foot drops.

Given that electronics do stop functioning at some point in their life, if the onewheel is in motion when that happens it will be very bad for you, especially if you lack safety gear.

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