Comment by conductr | Hacker News Reader

Comment by conductr | Hacker News Reader

Parent Full thread

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 an "off road" model (bigger wheels) to help make pebbles and such a non-issue. Even still, concrete is not flat, you'll eventually come across a missing cobblestone, etc. IMO it's a matter of when not if you'll take a spill.

That said, I think the electric unicycles are much more dangerous. But at least they make it clear that it's not a toy. I passed on the Onewheel because of the random ejection complains I've seen online (which is likely fueling this regulation as it's been known for several years now). While wrecking was not fun, at least I did it to myself. I'd be really upset if I felt like the board did it to me.

> Even still, concrete is not flat, you'll eventually come across a missing cobblestone, etc. IMO it's a matter of when not if you'll take a spill.

As a former skateboarder in my teens I tried longboarding just for the fun of it later in life (around my 30s) and this is exactly why I stopped. Given time enough you will eat pavement, it's just a matter of when and how.

I decided to stop when I took a fall from a gap between concrete slabs that wasn't visible, I remembered to roll but still mangled my knee and somehow my thumbs and was out of commission on a 2 weeks recovery. It fucking sucked, the pain was much longer lasting than when I was a teen, the lost mobility made me unable to work for more than a week. I have responsibilities now, I can't be taking weeks off work due to a stupid fall from something that was supposed to be fun.

The electric unicycles always scared me though and I never tried them. I've seen 2 accidents happening in front of me when I was biking and both were really gnarly, even for my standards with action sports. Calling an ambulance for a stranger passed out after they lost control going over 25km/h and hit a parked car was really not fun.

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

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.

Those would look like training wheels and looks are everything in these devices.

This - the product has horrible human factors engineering in the low power scenario:

The rider will always be ahead of his/her center gravity when the board starts decelerating unexpectedly, and it's irrelevant whether it's the front digging in, or the thing just decelerating when approaching low battery.

Even on my longboard I really brace myself when letting off the throttle at speed. The regenerative brakes provide a jolt. Also it’s possible to accidentally hit the brake which would likely be a wipe out. It could be because I’m heavier now than my younger days. Forward momentum is a bitch on these speeds.

The small wheels on the front and back are an add-on, called fangs (https://land-surf.com/products/fangs%e2%84%a2-2-1). I’ve had them on my Onewheel for years and I’m not sure they’ve ever actually saved me on a nosedive. The front of the board comes down with a lot of force very quickly and even if the little wheels do keep the board rolling, the rider has been rapidly shoved forward and will likely go over the front anyway.

Unfortunately electric longboards have a pretty common failure mode where they instantly and suddenly brake with full force. I've had it happen once (although i was going slow enough not to bail) and seen it many times.

Isn't the question about one wheel(skateboard with gokart wheel) vs electric unicycle (single bigger wheel between the legs closer driving position to real unicycle)? Not about one wheel vs other more typical vehicles. Both have one wheel but they are two completely different things.

I’ve only watched some videos but the balance part of the unicycle seems to have a big learning curve. The speed is what worries me the most. I’m thinking anything with a motor should probably have a seat.

It's unstable by design and can't really brake hard without getting rid of the rider really fast. If a careless rider/driver/pedestrian gets in your way, you'll likely be able to stop your e-bike in time as opposed to crashing on a monowheel.

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.

> 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.)

I think this is because of the “clearly not a toy aspect”. Riders often are wearing full motorcycle helmets, pads, and rash guard gear. It people geared up that way on other boards/scooters there would be less injuries too. I had no protective gear which was a mistake. I didn’t fully appreciate how speed would compound the impact if I took a spill. Honestly thought it very unlikely I would fall at all the day I did. I was taking a ride on a route I already knew very well.

I also think the initial difficulty of unicycles acts as a good filter so that people with subpar abilities simply don’t try. The rentable scooters are dangerous because people that shouldn’t be on them have a false sense of ability because it seems easy. Until they get to speed or take their eye off the road or something.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com