Is EUC safe on road?

[Skiboard17]

Hello everyone, I'm a newbie euc rider and a teenager. I rode IPS three years ago, and it was sold when we were moving. My dad got me a solowheel glide 3 after months of pleading, and right now we are concerned about the safety for the wheel to go on road. So I want to hear what you guys think about the safety.

I think it's pretty safe to go on road. I always wear bike helmet, wrist guards, and knee pads. I rode on bike path mostly, or on the side of the car lane when there is no bike lane and the car lane is wide. The rest of time I ride on bike path (sidewalk). I usually rode 12-15 mph and slow down when I don't feel safe. Overall I think I'm a cautious rider. 

My dad argues that it's not safe to go on road. Even though he knows I ride super carefully, he says there are always those dangerous drivers (like the 90-year lady next door ), and I'm not capable to undergo even one accident since I'm too young. He says, since this invention is too new to the rest of the world, people wouldn't expect you while driving. In addition, he wants me to treat this wheel as a toy instead of a transportation tool, and he doesn't allow me to ride it to any place over 2 miles......

Guys I want to hear about your opinions on wheel safety on road. I couldn't find much useful information about this topic anywhere. Please share your experience and opinions, and this might help other hesitating potential riders, too. Most importantly, try to be reasonable and objective. This is basically a research instead of a party for wheel enthusiasts. Thank you guys so much!

[Gaz Bon]

It's as safe as crossing the street you take all reasonable steps and judge when safe to cross 

You can't predict the future or the drink driver or some dick texting when driving 

Just be vigilant (and be seen) as you would when riding yr bike 

Modern EUCs are a tad faster that the bike but 

PPE and respect for other road users you should be fine 

My boys 2 yrs old and already preping him for life on the uno wheel 😎

 

[The Fat Unicyclist]

I always ride as if I am on a bike... Signaling my intenstions in the same way and expecting to be unseen by car drivers despite my best visibility efforts.

I think that overall, behaving that way makes me as safe as a cyclist... And more safe than a Lime scooter rider!

[Mono]

What does is this safe even mean? Does your dad think that riding a bicycle is safe? We all know that it is much less safe than driving a car but despite of this we also know that any car trip which was replaced by a bicycle trip makes the world a better place.

Nobody can currently know, but in the landscape of different transportation means, a unicycle is probably about as safe as (or a little less safe than) a bicycle, which is much less safe than a car, and slightly more safe than walking and much more safe than motorcycling (not sure how the latter numbers hold up in the US). If your dad even considers to allow you riding a motorcycle, he should be happy to let you go on an EUC.

Edited September 22, 2019 by Mono

[alcatraz]

Get a drivers license first (be it scooter or whatever) then go. Whatever new you do, do it gradually over several years. Don't ride in rush hour traffic until you've eased into it. Avoid certain roads/times of day and slowly expand your domain.

It's not to avoid you from having accidents. It's so that the accident (that will come) won't be serious. You'll receive close calls instead of hospital visits.

I'm using a lot of my heavy motorcycle training skills when I ride. 

How many accidents have you had so far in traffic? How many have you had playing around? Have you crashed the wheel at full speed yet?

There is a certain level of cautiousness and respect one gives after really suffering, I'm sorry to say...

I'm not saying to go out and crash but if you haven't you will be biased towards risk taking and you need to be aware of it.

The least of your problems is to piss off your father. It's to stay in one piece. That means no prostesis, no wheelchair, no coffin.

Try to earn your fathers trust by getting a scooter/motorcycles driving license of sorts.

Edited September 22, 2019 by alcatraz

[LanghamP]

4 hours ago, Mono said:

Nobody can currently know, but in the landscape of different transportation means, a unicycle is probably about as safe as (or a little less safe than) a bicycle, which is much less safe than a car, and slightly more safe than walking and much more safe than motorcycling (not sure how the latter numbers hold up in the US). If your dad even considers to allow you riding a motorcycle, he should be happy to let you go on an EUC.

In the USA, the NHTSA gives statistics on each transportation type, per trip and by mile.

https://www.nhtsa.gov/

Motorcycles are the least safe, and the others aren't close, being a pedestrian is second most dangerous (both per trip and per mile), while a car is approximately the same as a bicycle per mile (but about 2-3 times more dangerous per hour of travel). While most motorcycle crashes are single user, virtually all pedestrian and bicycle deaths are by being hit by a driver (approximately 6,000 deaths of pedestrian and bicyclist per year in the US are being hit by drivers).

I believe the reason, really just a single reason, is that the US uses an arterial road/street hybrid feeding into dead-end neighborhoods for most traffic movement while in Western Europe (whose traffic patterns look very different) the grid pattern is used. About 87% of traffic deaths occur on these arterial roads (aka stroads), because high speeds are combined with intersections resulting in fatal collisions.

Realistically, your bigger danger is being run over by a driver; while people will often advise you on how to ride on the street, what to wear, and so on, such advise isn't much use because you're essentially depending on the goodwill of a driver to not be on his cell phone, follow the rules of the road, and so on.

However, my guess is that about 80-95% of drivers are breaking the law at any one time,  when you include cell phone usage, speeding, and not stopping on red.

[Mono]

21 minutes ago, LanghamP said:

while a car is approximately the same as a bicycle per mile

Really? Could you give the actual source, instead of the link to the homepage?

[LanghamP]

2 hours ago, Mono said:

Really? Could you give the actual source, instead of the link to the homepage?

You can dig up the research papers published in PDF format on your own. The NHTSA publications are a pain in the ass, but they are there, and you can find them.

Be advised there are two sets of PDF docs;  published quarterly and one published annually. Get the annual publications, because they have the breakdown by module.

Finally, if you simply cannot find them (and they are a pain to do so) after making some effort, then I guess we can both try to find those sources.

[Mono]

5 hours ago, LanghamP said:

You can dig up the research papers published in PDF format on your own. The NHTSA publications are a pain in the ass, but they are there, and you can find them.

I see, you didn't actually look up the numbers but wrote what you remember, yet citing a source that you didn't use. I would be quite surprised if you remembered this one correctly though. It happened before, this I can remember vividly.

5 hours ago, LanghamP said:

You can dig up the research papers published in PDF format on your own.

Thanks, I for sure look up the numbers in advance if I otherwise would have made claims which are reasonably likely to be wrong.

To me it seems very out of touch with reality to believe that the road safety of cars and bicycles is the same or even close per mile.

See for example here, Cycling vs Car: 35 vs 3 fatalities per 1 billion miles, which makes cycling ten times more dangerous than car driving (Pedestrians;Motorcycles=42;122). For casualties it is even 40 times more dangerous. That is for the UK. In the US cycling is notoriously more dangerous than in most other countries. Maybe look it up, the numbers are mind boggling, IIRC 

Edited September 22, 2019 by Mono

[Rywokast]

well.. its safer than biking if you ask me... whether thats safe or not is down to too many factors to list lol.. including what city, traffic conditions, road conditions, time of day, your skill level, and luck or rather not getting unlucky lol... ive had many many close calls with cars, but guess what.. every single one of them was when i was using a pedestrian crossing because some people are braindead and think its okay to turn without so much as a glance, ive had to swerve out of the way, slam on the brakes hard, jump curbs etc.. i was actually hit by a car the other day by none other than someone making a right turn at a pedestrian crosswalk in which case i had a green light and the right of way but he didnt LOOK... people suck at driving in general, you have to be extremely vigilant on the road, never expect that people will be polite or see you, keep a reasonable distance, do not do anything unless youve made eye contact with the driver, use hand signals, always assume the worst and you should be fine.. accidents happen, unpredictable scenarios present themselves all the time, the danger of it will greatly come down to your skill and experience level. do i think its dangerous? in general, no. is it more dangerous than a dedicated bike lane or a sidewalk? absolutely.

perhaps your dad believes it is unsafe down to the fact it is an EUC.. how would he feel about you riding a bicycle on the road? in most places, it is illegal to ride them anywhere else.. if you are good on an euc there is no way a bike is safer.. euc you have both hands free at all times, you are standing already and not in an awkward position in the event of a fall.. you can start and stop very quickly and build up speed much faster than a bicycle, they take up less space than a bicycle, they are far more maneuverable for difficult or unexpected situations than a bicycle.. blah blah blah xD if you can convince him of these things then he would see yes it is safe on the road... as safe as one can be that is. basically every person on these forums and many who arent all ride EUCs on the road

Edited September 22, 2019 by Rywokast

[seage]

6 hours ago, Rywokast said:

ive had many many close calls with cars, but guess what.. every single one of them was when i was using a pedestrian crossing because some people are braindead and think its okay to turn without so much as a glance, ive had to swerve out of the way, slam on the brakes hard, jump curbs etc.. i was actually hit by a car the other day by none other than someone making a right turn at a pedestrian crosswalk in which case i had a green light and the right of way but he didnt LOOK...

This 4000000%. I can ride rushhour traffic, no problem. Country roads with cars shooting by at 80km/h, fine. WALKING my wheel across the road on a green and someone trying to kill me on a right turn...EVERY SINGLE DAY. 

Some dude actually honked at me last week for crossing... I had the walk signal, i looked him dead in his eyes and started to walk as he pulls into a hard turn then slams the breaks and honks. I just stopped, pointed at the walk signal and he just smiles like a moron. I wanted to swing my wheel into his front light. I need to start riding with a baton. 

 

Anyways, OP, end of the day, you could slip down the stairs, choke on food, stub your toe and fall into a pool with the cover on, get hit riding your push scooter across a road, be jumped by a sheep. Anything is possible. Unless you're driving a tank, theres a chance of getting hurt out there. I understand his thinking in that people dont get what we do, but i dont understand limiting your distance. From what ive heard (dont quote me on this) people are more likely to get hurt closer to home, due to becoming complacent. I know for me, i ride cautiously in places i dont know. When i get comfortable, thats when i have close calls. Like the drop on this road i know well. Totally forgot. Straight legs, almost fell in the middle of the street, downtown. Pushing doesnt always mean being reckless. Your dad is trying to protect you and look out for you. You're his baby, so i totalllly understand. But get him out on his bike. Have him join you on real rides, then show him how capable you and your wheel are. You can hit road , grass, dirt, gravel, stones, whatever terrain and ride them all. Toys dont do what these do. Gotta hit him with facts then show him. Hes coming from an emotional place. "Protect my child" so if you give him reassurance that you'll do your best to be okay (you cant promise that) then it should help. Again, it sounds terrible, but the one day one of us does get hurt, we could be walking along and get hit by someone. Anyways. Be safe out there and good luck with your pops. 

[Tazarinho]

On 9/22/2019 at 7:51 AM, The Fat Unicyclist said:

I always ride as if I am on a bike... Signaling my intenstions in the same way and expecting to be unseen by car drivers despite my best visibility efforts.

I think that overall, behaving that way makes me as safe as a cyclist... And more safe than a Lime scooter rider!

My thoughts and behavior exactly! Also I've gotten out of a situation on my EUC when a car swerved into a one-way street (the wrong way) just in front of me, where I would have crashed on a bike for sure. On my EUC I was able to instinctively and immediately swerve right and avoid the car by inches.

[Michael Vu]

Sounds like your dad is just against you riding any vulnerable vehicle (bike, motorcycle, EUC, etc.) on any road that has cars on it which is a legit safety concern that most American's have. It's the number one reason why people choose not to ride a bike but drive instead. Now if he thinks an EUC is actually more unsafe than a bike because of visibility, I would argue that the opposite is actually true because an EUC is so new and weird in the public eye that drivers can't help but stare and keep thinking to themselves "what the hell is that?". Also a person standing on an EUC should take up more visual space than a person hunched over on a bike. 

[Skiboard17]

Thank you guys so much for your precious advices!

A lot of you guys mentioned that it is safer than some other vehicles like bicycles and motorcycles. However, it seems that accidents still happen sometimes, almost inevitably. I think my dad makes a point that it only takes one accident to ruin my life. Maybe he is a little too overprotective, but he is worrying about my own safety, and I don't want to let him down.

I made an agreement with him just now. He agrees me to go on riverbed and ride in parks. I feel like that's enough for me right now, and I'm happy with it. Maybe I'll ride more when I can upgrade my wheel and safety gears with my own money in a few years.

Thank you guys again! Learned lots of stuff from this amazing community!

[The Fat Unicyclist]

@Bobby Zhou... Cerritos, CA.

Does that mean we will be seeing you at the LA EUC Games next month?

Perhaps bring your Dad so he can see how agile and controlable these EUC things can be...

Edited September 24, 2019 by The Fat Unicyclist

[LanghamP]

11 hours ago, Bobby Zhou said:

I made an agreement with him just now. He agrees me to go on riverbed and ride in parks. I feel like that's enough for me right now, and I'm happy with it. Maybe I'll ride more when I can upgrade my wheel and safety gears with my own money in a few years.

Here's a suggestion for anyone deciding to ride on the road, and that will keep you safe 87% of the time.

On the road that you're thinking of riding, go to the street corner and look at the poles. If they have bolts in them, then don't ride or walk on or near that street. Those are breakaway bolts, required by traffic engineers, because the energies in collisions are so high that breakaway bolts are needed so drivers aren't killed.

[Mono]

On 9/24/2019 at 5:04 AM, Bobby Zhou said:

I think my dad makes a point that it only takes one accident to ruin my life.

That is true, but it is in itself also no argument at all, because it is applicable to anything one does in life, hence it cannot make any distinction between different activities to make a decision which is preferable. The airplane you enter only needs to crash once to ruin your life. The house you are living in needs only to be hit once by a meteorite. The car you drive needs to only be hit once by a truck. Now what?

Edited November 17, 2019 by Mono

[Skiboard17]

On 9/24/2019 at 1:22 AM, The Fat Unicyclist said:

@Bobby Zhou... Cerritos, CA.

Does that mean we will be seeing you at the LA EUC Games next month?

Perhaps bring your Dad so he can see how agile and controlable these EUC things can be...

Sorry, but I'm not planning to go even though it's a great opportunity. I have some extracurricular classes signed up since I'm a high school student from China. I believe at least you have heard how Asian parents want their kids to do well academically, so there is no getting out of class for fun......

[Skiboard17]

On 9/24/2019 at 7:59 AM, Mono said:

That is true, but it is also a really stupid argument, because it is applicable to anything one does in life, hence it cannot make any distinction between different activities to make a decision which is preferable. The airplane you enter only needs to crash once to ruin your life. The house you are living in needs only to be hit once by a meteorite. The car you drive needs to only be hit once by a truck. Now what?

Well my dad would say, not riding EUC eliminates the risk of riding it, and that's exactly why he bans me to ride it on road. I think it's kinda stupid too, but it makes sense at the same time.

[Mono]

1 hour ago, Bobby Zhou said:

Well my dad would say, not riding EUC eliminates the risk of riding it, and that's exactly why he bans me to ride it on road. I think it's kinda stupid too, but it makes sense at the same time.

No, it does not make sense unless you stay home instead of riding the EUC. Otherwise you have to compare the risk riding the EUC with the risk of the alternative means of transportation.