Be Safe When Riding Your Electric Scooter

How Safe is it to Ride an Electric Scooter?

The electric scooter. A lean mean eco-friendly machine that allows you to get from A to B in style. The electric scooter has landed with us recently and is growing in popularity, not just with the young but with every age bracket. It seems everyone is jumping on the e-scooter revolution. 

Liverpool features one of the government electric scooter hire schemes with Voi scooters with everybody from all walks of life riding around the city of Liverpool. Students, office workers, and the general public, all cruising the urban landscape to their destinations. But how safe is it to ride an electric scooter? We look at the ways to prevent accidents and make yourself safer.

Let's start with the basics

What is an Electric Scooter?

An electric scooter is a motorised scooter that has a battery and motor to propel it along. Similar to an electric bike, but without the pedalling when the battery runs out. You'll be walking. Lots of fun, they're nippy and responsive, and some of the more expensive models, such as the Kugoo G2 Pro Electric Scooter, arrive with lots of features.

They're pretty green also. Eco-friendly to the max. With no fumes being pumped into the atmosphere, they have a low carbon footprint. And if you charge them with renewable energy, then, apart from the materials they're made out of. They are pretty much carbon-free.

They have modern brakes, road-grip tyres, bright lights, apps for connectivity, are waterproof, and are made from durable materials such as aluminium alloy. They are strong and solid. So we're going to look at ways to be safe when riding your electric scooter.

To Helmet, Or not to Helmet

Electric scooters, they're like bicycles, and they go on roads, and cars are on the roads. Wearing a helmet when riding a scooter could seriously save you from a nasty head injury, or worse.

Did you know, that wearing a helmet when riding an electric scooter reduces a head injury by 70%. Those odds are great. So you're 70% less likely to receive a head injury if you're hit by another vehicle, fall off, or are attempting some sort of ridiculous stunt which involves jumping the park bench.

The helmet design is improving all the time. Like these ones that look cool on your head. Stylish and practical. 

Shine Like a Giant Scooter Riding Glow worm

As the dark nights start coming in, you'll notice when cruising on the old electric scooter that you get harder and harder to see. Even with front and rear lights, being seen in the dark is paramount. Most electric scooters are black as well, which doesn't help.

The solution. While gliding through the city landscape at night, wear something reflective. So when the car headlights shine in your direction you're illuminated like a Christmas tree on steroids. From an extra light on the back of your helmet to a simple reflective gilet, both can make a difference.

You could even buy reflective strips to put down the side of your e-scooter. Or if you're really brave and the kind of person that loves attention then these illuminated bike balls might be your thing?

The main thing is to light yourself up and be seen at night.

Make Sure Your Lights Work

Simple yes. But lights could stop injury either to yourself or another person.

Potholes. Yep, those big grooves on the road. When you go over one in a car, you always grit your teeth and suck air in because boy, suspension. 

Now imagine going over one on an electric scooter. Unlike a bike, where your wheels are bigger and you have a bit of ground clearance, scooters don't. If you hit one at speed at night, it'll certainly hurt. You'll definitely go over the handlebars and probably land on your face. That's going to be painful right?

Also, if you haven't got a front light on, people crossing the road won't see you and you might not even see them. Being hit by an electric scooter can still hurt. And you'll definitely be sued by the person you hit. It'll be expensive and it just won't look good on your character.

So be smart and make sure your way it lit up. Both at the front and behind you. It's very easy for a car to miss your rear light if there isn't one there! And getting hit from behind is on a list of fun things to happen. Check your lights every time you go out.

Check Those Tyres

Most Electric Scooters arrive with solid tyres installed, so you won't need to worry about pumping them up. But if you do have pneumatic tyres on your scooter, check them regularly and make sure that the pressure is correct. Too low and you could lose control.

The other thing to check on your electric scooter’s tyres is the tread. The grippy groovy part for those of you that don't know what a tread is. Tread allows water to flow through and helps keep your electric scooter glued to the road. If this wears down you'll soon know about it. Especially in the wet or gravelly road. When you take a corner, even at a relatively slow speed, with no grip, you're going to come off.

Check your tyres and if they're worn down. Get them replaced. 

Watch the Traffic

This is a given. Let's face it. If it was a competition of 'who comes out best' between a car and an electric scooter, the car will always win. 

Treat every other person on the road as an unpredictable idiot with no road etiquette or sense of direction, and you'll survive quite easily. Drivers make erratic turns with signalling or unnecessary lane switches. 

Just be aware of what's going on around you as you ride. Even invest in a mirror so you can look behind you and see what's coming up from the rear.

Make Sure Your Brakes Work

Before you set off cruising to the office, gym, or shops. Give all your brakes a quick test. Some electric scooters have electric front and rear brakes, such as the IENYRID M4 Pro Electric Scooter which arrives with both front and rear disc brakes. Perfect for a quick stop.

Checking your brakes takes seconds. If you do have a problem you'll know straight away. Not when you try to stop at the red light and you still keep going into the cross traffic.

Brakes can be replaced. A lot of Electric Scooter manufacturers are offering replacement parts, which can easily be swapped over. So, if your brakes aren't working, get them fixed or replaced.

Electric Scooters are Here to Stay

With the laws changing and more and more cities taking up the hire schemes. Electric Scooters are here to stay. So it's vitally important that when you ride, you keep yourself safe. Check your Electric scooter before riding, avoid idiots, see clearly and be seen clearly.