You’ve bought your scooter, had a few goes on it, however now you would like to ensure you continue the enjoyment without any injury or fines. Keep reading to find out all you need to know on rider safety including awareness, misconceptions and precautionary tips.
Let's start with tips for the rider: Below is a quick checklist created (and best shared with loved ones) to go over before you ride.
✔️ Helmet
✔️ Closed in shoes
✔️ Preferably long pants
✔️Shirt or preferably long sleeve shirt If you want a little extra cover
If you are going off-road use this more detailed checklist:
✔️Fully enclosed helmet Long pants and long shirt
✔️Elbow and knee pads
✔️Motocross or similar boots (protect the ankle and shin from accidents and branches)
Next up, riding:
The journey is the fun part, however there is a difference between being confident and having fun and being reckless.
New surroundings can be overwhelming, stay confident but stay vigilant. Whether you are on a busy street with pedestrians or off-road weaving through trees its always important to know your limitations and to have a backup plan or exit strategy.
The complication on the street is most definitely the people. They move, they are indecisive and generally speaking they wont know you are closing in (remember E-Scooters are relatively quiet). The bell is your friend in this situation and secondary to that having an exit strategy is important (an ability to slightly detour).
Off-road riding can be tricky too. Although trees can’t jump out at you like people can, there are a few variables to still consider – bends in the track, uneven surfaces (loss of traction), blind hills, fallen branches, branches that impede the track and even animals can all cause complications. If it’s a track you’ve never ridden before, test it or scope out the surroundings before heading into it full of confidence – don’t be reckless.
Lastly; misconceptions With both on road and off-road posing issues, a common misconception across riders is that once you know the journey, every time you ride it, it’ll present in a very similar manner. Having this as your initial assumption will catch you out.
The increased popularity of Electric Scooters recently could draw comparisons with the rise in hobbyist motorcyclists more than two decades ago. Back then road awareness campaigns hadn’t really started to build momentum. It wasn’t until the mid 2000s we saw a shift in responsibility to be inclusive of everyone on the road. The notion behind this was that motorcyclists were losing their lives too frequently in avoidable motor vehicle accidents.
In 2021, Budget Direct released their motorcycle accident survey results and one notable trend is that 63% of motorcyclists surveyed believe that motorists should be more tolerant of motorcyclists. In a similar vain the same could be said about pedestrians and electric scooter riders. Scooters are here to stay and whilst you as the rider can be as vigilant as ever, more education and awareness needs to be communicated to the public regarding the integration of scooters into society.
Conclusion:
The popularity of electric scooter riding (on and off-road) is continuing to trend upwards. Being prepared, staying vigilant and confident will help manifest the most enjoyable experience possible.
