Fatality History

[Losai]

Update: 09.06.2019 - 21.05.2024 - totally 15 riders and 1 pedestrian died.

Check and download from Google Docs: FATALEUC.xlsx

[meepmeepmayer]

Eeeek! This list is more than two or three entries long (the ones I remember hearing about)! Not good! Thanks for dong this, though!

Unsurprisingly, most of these are really car accidents, not "EUC accidents" as they are called. Worth it to keep that in mind.

[Losai]

On 7/24/2023 at 6:01 PM, winterwheel said:

Not reported in the media: a member of our local community died riding an EUC.

FWIW he was wearing a helmet but still died of massive head injuries.

Maybe some new details? Name? Age? Were? When? How? We need to confirm this loss

[Frolic0415]

3 hours ago, Losai said:

Update: 09.06.2019 - 21.05.2024 - totally 15 riders and 1 pedestrian died.

Check and download from Google Docs: FATALEUC.xlsx

Do non-riding fatalities count?

[Asphalt]

4 hours ago, Losai said:

Update: 09.06.2019 - 21.05.2024 - totally 15 riders and 1 pedestrian died.

Check and download from Google Docs: FATALEUC.xlsx

Thank-you for compiling this list. 
If it's okay with you, I will update the first post of this topic with the missing entries.

[UniVehje]

18 hours ago, meepmeepmayer said:

Unsurprisingly, most of these are really car accidents, not "EUC accidents" as they are called. Worth it to keep that in mind.

Good point. I counted only three direct rider errors there. All were head injuries and two without helmet. Only one rider error and with helmet. 
Keep your helmet on and ride on cycle ways and this hobby is pretty safe compared to how people perceive it. 

[Losai]

On 5/22/2024 at 3:00 AM, Frolic0415 said:

Do non-riding fatalities count?

Yes, thank you for details

D you have facebook link for this post?

[Frolic0415]

9 minutes ago, Losai said:

Yes, thank you for details

D you have facebook link for this post?

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/kUSd18S96TrCEbBE/?mibextid=oFDknk

[GothamMike]

On 5/21/2024 at 8:00 PM, Frolic0415 said:

Do non-riding fatalities count?

So sorry for your loss.

[Losai]

On 5/22/2024 at 4:22 AM, Asphalt said:

Thank-you for compiling this list. 
If it's okay with you, I will update the first post of this topic with the missing entries.

Today - New major updates in this list, including details of previous cases.

Please update the first post, using FTALEUC.xlsx, any time.

Edited May 29 by Losai

[RagingGrandpa]

6 hours ago, Funky said:

But it is unsafe.

Split a few posts back out to https://forum.electricunicycle.org/topic/26211-eucs-can-be-dangerous ...

Please let's keep replies here on-topic and regarding factual documentation of specific incidents. 
 

Edited May 31 by RagingGrandpa

[Asphalt]

Dakota Bell of Kentucky USA, struck by truck on highway US 25
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/vPJL7KefpEmebxNr/?

[Asphalt]

From his FB posts, it looks like Dakota started learning to ride on a modded Master Pro V2 with EX30 motor, just 2 weeks before his death. This wheel weighed about as much as he did ~120lbs.

The police report says he lost control of his EUC and crossed over to the oncoming traffic lane, where he was struck by a truck.

[DavidB]

3 hours ago, Asphalt said:

From his FB posts, it looks like Dakota started learning to ride on a modded Master Pro V2 with EX30 motor, just 2 weeks before his death. This wheel weighed about as much as he did ~120lbs.

The police report says he lost control of his EUC and crossed over to the oncoming traffic lane, where he was struck by a truck.

The report I read said he was struck by an unlicenced driver.

"

The Madison County Coroner’s office was called to the scene of another fatal accident Wednesday night.

Officials say Dakota Bell, 32, of Richmond was killed when his electric unicycle was struck by a vehicle around 6:30 last night. According to the Madison County Sheriff’s office, the other vehicle was driven by Roberto Waldestram, who was cited for no operators license.

The accident occurred at 1740 Berea Road in Richmond, near the Okonite plant."

NB an 18 cyclist was killed in Berea the night before after being struck by car.

Edited September 20 by DavidB

[Aztek]

Seems there's a bike lane on this small road. It is a straight part of it too.

A terrible mishap   Probably the wheel being too heavy is in the root of this. Riding a wheel heavier than half of your bodyweight is risky and one can never control it fully. I know it from own experience and my bg master being about 5 kgs heavier than my half of weight. 

[Asphalt]

4 hours ago, DavidB said:

The report I read said he was struck by an unlicenced driver.

"

The Madison County Coroner’s office was called to the scene of another fatal accident Wednesday night.

Officials say Dakota Bell, 32, of Richmond was killed when his electric unicycle was struck by a vehicle around 6:30 last night. According to the Madison County Sheriff’s office, the other vehicle was driven by Roberto Waldestram, who was cited for no operators license.

The accident occurred at 1740 Berea Road in Richmond, near the Okonite plant."

NB an 18 cyclist was killed in Berea the night before after being struck by car.

 

[Jmac]

9 hours ago, DavidB said:

The report I read said he was struck by an unlicenced driver.

"

The Madison County Coroner’s office was called to the scene of another fatal accident Wednesday night.

Officials say Dakota Bell, 32, of Richmond was killed when his electric unicycle was struck by a vehicle around 6:30 last night. According to the Madison County Sheriff’s office, the other vehicle was driven by Roberto Waldestram, who was cited for no operators license.

The accident occurred at 1740 Berea Road in Richmond, near the Okonite plant."

NB an 18 cyclist was killed in Berea the night before after being struck by car.

As we approach winter in the northern hemisphere, we all know, as drivers, there is often poor visibility with the sun right in your face.  We can't control those drivers but we can be aware of the hazard of not being seen. Include in your safety protocol, the traffic blinded by the Sun. Because they're probably aiming for you without even knowing it.

[Losai]

Update: 09.06.2019 - 21.09.2024 - totally 15 riders confirmed & 3 unconfirmed.

Check and download from Google Docs: FATALEUC.xlsx

[Aztek]

Over 60% of the fatalities are due to being hit by a car or other big vehicle.

The rest are falling from EUC usually not wearing protective gear.

All seems logical.

 

Edited September 21 by Aztek

[yoos]

47 minutes ago, Aztek said:

Over 60% of the fatalities are due to being hit by a car or other big vehicle.

The rest are falling from EUC usually not wearing protective gear.

All seems logical.

 

This i consistent with bicycle statistics, where also ~2/3 or deaths are motor-vehicle related. So it's all part of the danger of cars and larger vehicles rather than the small mobility devices.

(see, e.g. here https://injuryfacts.nsc.org/home-and-community/safety-topics/bicycle-deaths/)

Overall though, to get a meaningful statistics (that can be judged and acted upon) we would unfortunately need a much higher ridership (to have tens of hundreds of cases annually - there are 1000-1500 annual bicycle deaths in the US alone). Just theorizing I would expect EUC danger not to be any higher than electric scooter danger (both to the rider as well as the public). Anecdotally, EUC riders are more aware and prepared than the typical scooter rider (and definitely better prepared than a casual rental user). The question is whether it's substantially more dangerous than a bicycle (if, say, we only consider some filtered "slow wheel" statistics).

Regretfully, politics work in such a way that usually the first fatality triggers a hysterical repressive response ("let's ban all those things!").This is exacerbated by the scarcity of real sources of significant danger in developed countries, which inflates the overall perceived dangerousness of things.

[Skampster]

Agree with earlier posts, most of these are not EUC accidents but traffic accidents. They should not be counted. 

[Aztek]

8 hours ago, Skampster said:

They should not be counted. 

They should be counted as they are part of the EUC riding nature - it is dangerous to be on EUC among the cars.

From the limited information we have, two conclusions can be made: it is dangerous to be on EUC on the same place where cars are; it is dangerous to push the EUC to its limits, especially if not fully geared for protection, especially among cars.

Edited September 22 by Aztek

[Skampster]

No, a fatality should only be counted when it’s solely an issue with riding EUC’s. Getting run over by a car is the same for anyone who plays in traffic. It’s got nothing at all to do with EUC’s nor is it a specific EUC problem. 

[Aztek]

2 hours ago, Skampster said:

No, a fatality should only be counted when it’s solely an issue with riding EUC’s. Getting run over by a car is the same for anyone who plays in traffic. It’s got nothing at all to do with EUC’s nor is it a specific EUC problem. 

Same if you are riding EUC or Range Rover?! Obvously on EUC one is not protected from cars, as when being surrounded by two tons of steel.

The EUC can and does drop you sometimes face down on the road, infront of incoming cars.

Edited September 22 by Aztek

[Skampster]

48 minutes ago, Aztek said:

The EUC can and does drop you sometimes face down on the road, infront of incoming cars.

Now you are muddying the waters………………

if an EUC drops someone, fine, they live or die, but if they are dropped and then hit by a car, that’s not an EUC fatality. And EUC fatality is a death, Specifically caused by riding an EUC without a third party involved, that or a fire killing you in your house. If I’m out and about riding my Lynx and I die from either something thing did wrong while riding or my Lynx failing, that’s an EUC fatality. 
if I fall off my Lynx into a lake and I can’t swim and drown, that’s a drowning fatality, not an EUC fatality. 
There’s a girl here in Canberra who died riding a scooter with no helmet, she dashed across the road and got hit by a car, so the press tried to blame the fact she was on a scooter. It wasn’t the scooters fault, nor was it a bike, go kart, or roller skates. It’s her fault for not looking where she was going, and not wearing a helmet. 
 

Think about it, really think about it. 

Edited September 22 by Skampster