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

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

#381

Post by apienx »

TheCondor wrote: post #191
apienx wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"I don't understand why now?" Bureaucratic inefficiencies. "Is there a bug with onewheels that are causing this injury/death?" There was an issue that the community referred to as "ghosting" whereby the board got a bit out of control. This was fixed with a firmware update. The boards also nosedive when approaching top speed. Some people consider that a bug, but it's just users neglecting instructions and warnings.

I know a couple of people injured by the so-called non-bug and they have both dumped their one wheels and feel duped about it. I hate to think that the whole idea is fatally flawed, but it should have enough reserve power to gracefully slow you down if the machine is in trouble. They guys I know, one is a very talented board sporter and broke his collarbone. He takes safety pretty seriously and felt like there was no…

"it should have enough reserve power to gracefully slow you down if the machine is in trouble."

You're 100% right. It's an avoidable problem. But they choose not to for bragging-rights and top speeds and engineering resources.

Chaotic innovation in the personal-transport space is better for us in the long term.

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

#382

Post by deeblering4 »

Cerium wrote: post #89
0_____0 wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your latter point is why I'm not really sold on electric longboards. Your control authority on a longboard is pretty low, and you need a lot of control authority to react to surprise obstacles/maintain stability after encountering one. Sure, DH longboarders exceed 25mph regularly, but they ride in semi-controlled environments (scout the descent for gravel etc before hitting it) and are exceptionally skilled. Putting…

The danger is in the perception. It took me about 10 hours of dedicated practice (over a few weeks) before I felt comfortable using a longboard as a transportation device off of public roads - eg: on a closed campus. When I have seen people pickup an electric longboard they feel safe in a half hour, but obviously don't have any reflexes to back that up.

Whenever I ride downhill I’ll carve and powerslide to keep my speed within the range of how fast I can bail into a run essentially.

The few times I’ve spilled going faster than I could run have been ugly! Feet just couldn’t keep up and gone into a barely controlled roll.

I don’t know if I could ever feel comfortable consistently riding that fast

One time was caused by my dog chasing another dog while I was holding the leash standing on my board, that was hilariously painful

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

#383

Post by jollyllama »

duskwuff wrote: post #315
jollyllama wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a real shame that they've been forced to end production while these more dangerous technologies have proliferated.

"Forced" is a strong word. I don't think there was anything breathing down their neck to discontinue it, just market forces -- the semiconductor shortage of 2020 probably just pushed them over the edge into discontinuing what was already a low-demand product.

Yeah, I wasn't sure how else to word it.

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

#384

Post by otabdeveloper4 »

conductr wrote: post #131
0_____0 wrote: 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…

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…

> That said, I think the electric unicycles are much more dangerous.

Not really. They seem that way because they require skill to ride, but people hurt themselves on electric scooters much more frequently. (People judge "danger" based on how hard something seems to pilot, not on objective measures of failure. Tiny slippery wheels and points of failure in the frame make the electric scooter a much more dangerous vehicle by default.)

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

#385

Post by otabdeveloper4 »

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.

EUC's are safer. (Unless you're going ridiculous speeds, like you said.)

They are more stable unless something catastrophic happens (power cuts out), and if worst comes to worst you fall down in a more "natural" posture, like a running man would. Falling sideways from a bike or scooter is way worse.

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

#386

Post by bombcar »

enneff wrote: post #328
sooheon wrote: post #269

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Safety is proportional to skilled and educated riders & drivers.

Road design plays a huge role.

Safety is also more than just "number dead" or "number seriously injured" though that plays a part. Some of it is also "number of incidents that could have been serious" - people walking can bump into each other without any real risk of serious harm (though a mob/crowd crush is a real danger that has to be considered, for example), but many bicycle/pedestrian or bicycle/bicycle incidents have the risk of serious harm.

And "depend on people to do the right thing at the right time with the right skill" should be the absolute LAST fallback - only used when there is no other reasonable option.

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

#387

Post by zdragnar »

Dylan16807 wrote: post #179
zdragnar wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

It's not that "nothing is safe" but rather nothing is "inherently" safe.

I've crashed several times going roughly 12mph, with only a few scrapes and no broken bones- once because by brake line snapped, once because my tire got caught in a crack in the road I didn't see, and once because a car pulled in front of me.

Any one of those could have ended in a broken neck if I'd landed wrong. Going slower might have prevented one or two of those. Going faster wouldn't have caused worse injury in the third case given that I bounced off the car rather than going straight to the ground.

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

#388

Post by knodi123 »

serf wrote: post #235
danuker wrote: post #230

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

I mean.. it's impractical, but I prefer the parents' tactic of defense rather than guaranteed legal indemity. Yes, I won the court case .. but my won't grow back.

like the old joke about a tombstone with the epitaph "He had the right of way."

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

#389

Post by jeffbee »

kube-system wrote: post #306
sleepybrett wrote: post #293

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A lot of ebikes go with pretty chunky tires (for a bicycle). Mine are like 3.3 inches wide. (Rad Power Bikes) I'm mostly just a pedal assist guy though, I only go for the throttle on big hills or coming off a light with a car behind me.

Yeah, they do it for exactly that reason -- but not all do. Some even go with smaller tires to be convenient in a folding form factor, etc. And then you're got things like e-scooters which will launch a person at the mere thought of uneven pavement. I don't understand how people will ride those things and then call a motorcycle dangerous.

There’s a guy in my neighborhood who rides an electric stand-up scooter, who wears an aerostitch and a full-face motorcycle helmet while doing so.

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

#390

Post by colecut »

Auracle wrote: post #330
zamalek wrote: post #107

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…

The pushback is entirely inadequate as if you’re leaning forward enough you won’t have time to even feel it. It happened to me - I was using it to search for my dog that ran away for the first time ever. Because I was in a tizzy I wasn’t wearing my helmet, for the first time ever. Someone told me where she was - I floored it to get around a slow bicyclist. I nosedived. Luckily I had “fangs” on it that are a set of sm…

I promise you will have no problems selling it if you list it...
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