Hacker News Reader

Comment by aaron_oxenrider | Hacker News Reader

People will always be reckless and I understand where this guy is coming from. I'm not surprised at all though. Why would he think a hip new company would be pushing safety over just having fun? New companies pushing boundaries have almost never been focused on safety.

Safety is extremely important and cold water kills, a lot. American Whitewater does a great job keeping track and you can see their stats here: https://www.americanwhitewater.org/content/Accident/view/

No PFD is number 2 and I'm pretty sure a large portion of that flush drowning number can be partially attributed to cold.

View on HN

> New companies pushing boundaries have almost never been focused on safety.

This is a big reason why I skipped buying a OneWheel. They look like so much fun and I live near the beach where it would be easy to ride them on the sand. That said, too many videos on YT about them just randomly stopping and people going flying. I'll wait for other companies give them some competition in order to drive out better products (and lower prices) in the long run.

It's crazy how people only noticed that Onewheels are dangerous after a bunch of out of shape tech bros started buying them and treating them like toys.

They don't randomly stop, they're just inherently dangerous unless operated correctly.

Thanks for the huge laugh. "Unless operated correctly"... ha! Like that is something anyone can predict.

"Tech bro" Casey [0] [1] just did the NY Marathon [2]... he's not out of shape.

There are countless more videos on YT too [3] [4]. Heck, there are even little wheels you can buy to kind of try to help with the superman issues. Don't forget ghosting too.

No thanks. Enjoy your toy. I hope you don't get hurt.

[0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ay5M82IcUI

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spdK6fAX0bc

[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lGLhhoIsNc

[3] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6G3ddOMvBws

[4] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZsTdgSVd0E

I'm sure I could find videos of people falling off of snowboards and bikes too, so I don't find accident compilations particularly compelling. Especially since I can tell you in pretty much every instance exactly what they did wrong.

Generally speaking if you don't have a background in boardsports it's probably safest to avoid powered boards altogether, no matter how many wheels they have.

Certainly, I can find people walking and falling down too. Heck, drinking water can be dangerous if you do it enough.

The point, which you're glossing over, is that this is a new company, there is only one of them and they have some seriously dangerous and well documented issues with their product, beyond just using it.

Just like the OP's comment that I'm responding to.

I used to ride a Onewheel. Another case where they need to show people using safety devices more. Some of their ads show people with helmets. You really need wrist guards too. A lot of the more intense riders I've met tend to be wearing motorcycle gear.

The real hidden danger of a One Wheel is if you're a non goofy footed rider in a bike lane. You're front is towards the side walk/parked cars, and your back is towards traffic in countries that drive on the right. I've been clipped by a car turning right who didn't see me and he was in my blind spot (directly behind my head).

There is actually a non Future Motion (Onewheel maker) maker of a similar device called the Trotter. It seems more companies prefer to make things in the ECU factor which is fair.

Just from skimming it, cold and wet-suits dry-suits are also mentioned in the video.

I see no reason Oru couldn't have shown people wearing proper gear. Unless they think proper gear is uncool, so they're setting bad and dangerous examples, harming the sport overall, for their own profit.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com