Live data from Hacker News

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

cpsc.gov

351–360 of 415 posts

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

#351
I just wish more countries had the dutch biking infrastructure. I just bike to the city for 30/45m on a long, bike only road that's completely safe for everyone involved.

If I had to instead use devices like this on a road that can also easily have people walking on them, I can easily see crashes and many injuries happening.

There is just a need for making roads for cars smaller, and creating 2 extra separate roads for pedestrians and bikes/electrical vehicles (would rather have 3 roads, electric bikes can be annoying, but it's not always possible).

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

#352

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am absolutely no fan of Future Motion, and I ditched my OneWheel in protest. This isn't entirely a product flaw and comes down to physics: the board pushes you back (by lifting the front) to indicate that you are exceeding it's capacity to balance (all balancing products have a limit, with no exceptions). It will also push back when the battery is low. Either way, ignoring pushback is how people "suddenly have the…

What would you recommend as an alternative?

Electric unicycles are a lot of fun. I've ridden both and strongly prefer EUCs, and that is coming from a seasoned snowboarder and skateboarder.

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

#353

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My partner was hospitalized for nearly a week and had to have facial reconstructive surgery and nearly lost all her teeth after she got hit by someone on a scooter going 25mph while we were walking Be careful out there if you combine speed + unprotected mode of transportation

I for one think the future where we all walk around in cyberpunk body armour to protect ourselves from wayward idiots on powered transportation they are unable to control would be kind of sick

Around here, I've seen idiots on one wheelers doing 25+ on trails that explicitly ban powered vehicles. The riders were in full cross country motorcycle gear, and doing dumb tricks amidst pedestrians, strollers and bikes.

Someone in that crowd will literally kill someone at some point. They'd better hope I'm not on the jury at their reckless homicide trial.

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

#354
post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It does come to a stop. You get thrown on your ass because of the laws of motion. Your last statement - are you talking about using a fan with a parasail, which is a stable glider without power? If you want to use that analogy, this is more akin to taking too sharp a turn in a parasail, where the sail can't sustain and collapses in, causing you to fall like a rock because of the law of gravity. In a nosedive on a One…

> After the rider has been warned by the board that it's approaching that edge, physically and audibly. After a thousand miles and some injuries, I've learned to detect the onewheel XR's subtle pushback. However, none of the new riders who have tried my board have ever been able to feel it. And it certainly has no audible alarm either, I'm not sure where you got that.

GT has it, that’s what I ride.

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

#355
post #23

One issue I've noticed with these new forms of electric wheeled transport (longboard, transverse and longitudinal one-wheelers) is that the people riding them often don't come from a sports background. They aren't "safe" devices exactly - it takes skill to pilot them, and when things inevitably go awry, it takes good reflexes to avoid damage. Novices to action sports often throw their arms out to catch themselves whe…

Very true. If you've never been able to cruise on a skateboard, you might not realize how much damage an unexpected pebble or sidewalk crack will do. Riding is a constant balance of scanning the pavement for inconsistencies and making corrections to mitigate them. I don't know if that's even possible at 20+ mph.

When I went to university, I was going there in rollers, there was a nice slope where I could go relatively fast, in the morning, almost no traffic, good visibility, relatively smooth surface. All it took was a small peeble to launch me a few meters (tens?) flying away. The fall was much more impressive than the damage, I consider myself lucky and was basically the last time I used them. I realized how dangerous it was in comparison to just biking.

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

#356
post #353

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I for one think the future where we all walk around in cyberpunk body armour to protect ourselves from wayward idiots on powered transportation they are unable to control would be kind of sick

Around here, I've seen idiots on one wheelers doing 25+ on trails that explicitly ban powered vehicles. The riders were in full cross country motorcycle gear, and doing dumb tricks amidst pedestrians, strollers and bikes. Someone in that crowd will literally kill someone at some point. They'd better hope I'm not on the jury at their reckless homicide trial.

It’s very rare, but even push bikes can kill pedestrians in the wrong circumstances.

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

#357

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What would you recommend as an alternative?

I'm on an InMotion V5F, which is the slightly more recommended entry-level EUC. I understand that Begode is a better brand once you get into the midtier, and KingSong is the best high-tier brand. My only complaint is that I wish it went a little faster (I guess that's always the case no matter the top speed). It's much easier to transport when it's flat (i.e on foot) as it has a "leash" and just rolls along next to y…

EUCs do not seem like a very good alternative to the OneWheel. I think a huge draw to OneWheel is that it looks like a skateboard, but has one big wheel so it handles most terrain without trouble, helping to avoid the pebble paranoia you usually develop riding on a normal skateboard.

I did find the Trotter MAGWheel T3 as an alternative, but it reviews badly from its "prototype without any polish" experience in use.

It sucks that there seemingly does not exist a good alternative to OneWheel, other than changing to a different product category entirely. I wish we can get to see some true competition in the one-wheeled skateboard category soon.

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

#358
The onewheel is an inherently bad, unsafe design. The long board that a rider stands on is ever liable to stick into the ground and throw a rider. Compared even to a monowheel (not the safest mode of transportation in itself), it is downright scary.

Generally, rider of a unicycle or similar self-balancing device puts his life and limb in the hands of an unknown microcontroller programmer. The software on those things should be regulated as strictly as the airplane autopilots.

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

#359

Earlier quoted context omitted.

indeed you should use your hips instead of head/shoulders to weight the board, but it doesn't actually move more weight to the back (think about it, to go forward, the board needs to feel more weight on the front, for which it compensates by accelerating = increase speed + levels the board) the weight distribution doesn't change, but your body had much more control over the distribution.

That's a better way to put it. I tend to phrase it like I do because ideally your natural reaction should always be to lean back on the one wheel which for me in position ends up feeling like I'm standing one footed and pushing down with the other. Steering with your backfoot takes some getting used to if you've never board sported before. I've not snowboarded but I've been told it's like that? Also skid plates are a…

That’s interesting. I’ve spent years snowboarding, used to skate as a kid, little bit of surfing, and they all have transferable skills. The thing that I found so different about the OW is the LACK of rear foot push since you only have a single contact point with the ground. Like other person said, I move hips to control speed, squat to turn heel-side, but I don’t feel like the foot control is anything like board sports that have more contact with ground/snow/water. Maybe I do it subconsciously with super tight turns for trails but not with flow and carving.

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

#360

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I for one think the future where we all walk around in cyberpunk body armour to protect ourselves from wayward idiots on powered transportation they are unable to control would be kind of sick

I'd be fine with everyone wearing bodycams and any victim being able to prove in court that they deserve damages.

I'm not sure that would actually work out. First, some accidents are just accidents on both sides.

Second: We've seen the effect of bodycams on cops. They aren't exactly helping folks prosecute bad cops if they are even on and working and unobstructed. If we can't do it with cops, we probably aren't going to do real well with the general public.

There are other ways to help folks - Things like robust universal (taxpayer funded) health care and paid time off work for sickness and injury that doesn't take weeks to get. This takes the burden off an accident victims and doesn't punish folks on the wrong side of an actual accident nor make lifelong debt for someone using non-car, non-bus transportation.

Post reply on HN