How To Be Safe On An Electric Scooter? 6 Golden Rules

Riding an electric scooter is as responsible as riding any other vehicle. That is why you should always be aware of the conditions of your commute and never put yourself or others at risk while riding. Voltage Rider prepared the 6 golden rules to show you how to keep yourself and others safe while riding your electric scooter.

We suppose you are considering purchasing an electric scooter, and you're wondering how to be safe while riding in these crazy times.

Some other scenario could be that you have already ridden your e-scooter and there were some troubles and inconveniences.

Lately, there is an impression that the streets are becoming hell when it comes to electric scooters. But what is the real story?

Well, we have to be honest and admit that the riders play a big role in all that mess. Apart from their own safety, they have to look for the safety of the pedestrians and the rest of the vehicles on the road.

Wondering How to be Safe on an electric scooter?

First, safety while riding an electric scooter depends on three different aspects:

• Rider
• Electric Scooter
• Surrounding conditions

All these aspects have different levels of influence on different occasions. Here are the 6 golden rules which riders should follow, in order to keep themselves and others safe.

1. Riding technique and general behavior - What to do & What to avoid

As you are aware, if you see thousands of people, you can conclude that there are thousands of totally different personalities.

When we are talking about riding styles, it’s the same story, literally. There are numerous examples of mistakes that everybody makes, and it is even a greater wonder that those people get away without damages, injuries or with something even worse.

What we are doing in traffic has an enormous impact on safety in general. Here are the basic things you should be aware of if you want to be a better commuter and rider:

• Observe everything (not just the road)
• Be careful when slowing down and hitting the brakes
• Ride with an extreme caution

The surface on which you are moving can be really tricky. There could be potholes, maybe some rocks, shattered glass or something similar. However, not only the roads need a careful eye. You have to look at the other people, as well. While you are looking ahead, observe a few meters left and right at the same time, in order to avoid a collision.

When it comes to braking, you have to be sturdy but gentle. Don’t just hit the brake and expect to stop immediately. In places where you can’t see everything (around some house corner), slow down and expect someone to appear. Maybe that someone will turn up fast and recklessly, or will appear normal. Either way, you will have enough time to react.

Watch others carefully and observe their actions. If you observe the situation in the right way, situations of sudden braking and collisions can be significantly reduced.

2. Basic Setup For The Beginning – Checking and securing everything

In order to have our electric scooter functioning properly, we have to check all its parts. The technical conditions of our scooter will determine its performance and our feeling on the road while riding it.

Here are some of the most important spare parts and the basic things you need to implement in order for your ride to be safe and sound.

Tyres

• If the scooter has air inflatable tyres, check the pressure and possible damages
• If the scooter has solid tyres, look out for damages and loose screws

Riding with a damaged tyre or tyre with a pressure that is lower than recommended can be dangerous. If that tyre gets a puncture, losing control is guaranteed.

Handlebars Setup

The first thing you do when you get into your car is adjusting the seat, right? You want to easily reach everything you need in your car, especially the steering wheel.

It has to be easily reachable in order to manoeuvre safely and effortlessly. Same story here. You don’t want to have your handlebars too low or too high. Handlebars setup is really important. It’s not time-consuming, and it will provide you with a far more stable ride.

General Check

All screws on the deck, in handlebars, wheels need some check before the ride.

Currently, you are only checking the battery level before every ride, right?

There you go. That is also a good habit you should develop. All you have to do is implement that habit and apply it to a few other things. Its implementation reduces or even eliminates the possibility of malfunction, and you will get a much safer ride.

3. Getting to know your electric scooter – In details and precisely

This is one of the main steps for sure. It doesn’t matter whether you have just bought your scooter or you already own one. This is what needs to be done.

Look what the features are:

• Observation and reading through a manual are necessary steps.
• Just observe and inform yourself by reading through manuals.

Get to know how your scooter is functioning

This way you will be able to ride it with confidence and will be aware of all details.

4. Necessary equipment and accessories – Just basic things

Apart from the good technical conditions of the electric scooter itself, you need to count on good equipment and accessories in order to keep yourself safe.

• Helmet—this is probably the most important equipment you should possess, to feel safe while riding
• Lights—independently of how clear and illuminated the road is, there is always this particular spot where you cannot see anything, and you don’t feel confident while riding because you cannot detect the irregularities on the road. That is why, a good lightning system is always welcomed within the electric scooter equipment.

5. Art of Maintenance – Golden Rules

You may be struggling to maintain your e-scooter. This is the problem for most riders at the beginning. But sooner or later, you get familiar with the scooter and come to realize that it will work better if you do so.

One of the main answers on how to be safe on an electric scooter is its regular maintenance. You will significantly reduce the risk of malfunctions if you keep your scooter in good condition.

Maintenance doesn’t relate only to the storage and the cleaning of the scooter. There are a few steps during and after every ride which you should apply in order to take good care of your vehicle:

• If you hit some curb or pothole, check the tyres immediately
• If you are caught in the rain, make sure you dry out every electric part (dry with a rug, not with hairdryer)
• Quick eye-check on other parts
• If you were riding the scooter in bad weather conditions or low temperatures, make sure you put it in a dry place with medium degrees.

On the other hand, it is also important to keep an eye on the spare parts on a weekly basis.

• Tyres (pressure, tyre condition)
• Batteries
• Brakes
• Grips
• Speed controller

These simple steps will save you tons of time, money, and stress because you will be aware of the conditions of your scooter at any time. No more surprises!

6. Practice makes it perfect

Riding in traffic might be a bad idea if you have just started to ride an electric scooter. Some e-scooters have a bit of reactive throttle, some of those are tricky to ride at first in general.

Give yourself some time to get used to it.

At first, everything might seem a bit too complicated, but one thing is for sure, it isn’t. This is one of the simplest vehicles you can find.

Where to practice riding an electric scooter?

Just practice in some less stressful areas at first and give yourself enough time for getting to know the basics.

Here are some places you can start:

• Your backyard
• Quiet streets
• Parking lot

Some time for practice is a must because you get to know not only your scooter but yourself as a rider as well. Different accessories for safer riding will also help you during this journey.

Striving for self-improvement is the smartest decision you can make.

This article was prepared by Voltage Rider. You can access the original version of the article here.

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