#micromobility

“Operators and riders using other vehicles have had to sort and load parcels on the side of the road, so this also creates added security,” Blackwood explains.

My hope, as Spencer said, is increased awareness of the problem gets city officials, recurring offender businesses, and individual drivers to make different decisions. Part of that is redesigning streets with separated bike lanes; part of that is better signage directing people to proper parking; part of that is worker protections for rideshare and delivery drivers who feel they risk their jobs if they take an extra 30 seconds to park; and part of that is just changing the perception that everywhere is free space for drivers to take as they please.

As we were reminded just in the past week, cyclists get killed on these streets. If we can make progress on those fronts, it will help protect cyclists from not only bike lane blockers, but many ways drivers endanger micromobility users that aren't so easily photographed.

The trolley function of the Kwiggle folding bike allows for maximum mobility because you can always have it with you!

As someone whose relatives have escooters, and someone who has seen a lot of close calls with strangers, I wanna share a little-known bit of advice for anyone who's looking into escooters, or who already has one:

If you're on an escooter, you get the most protection by wearing a downhill or full-face helmet!

DO NOT GO HELMET-LESS!

By 'downhill' or 'full face', I mean the helmets that bmx riders use, or motorcycle riders wear, respectively. It sounds like overkill but here's the thing:

Escooters have a very high center of gravity because you're upright on them, and they have small wheels that don't absorb impact very well. It's super easy to go over your handle bars if you even hit a tiny pothole! According to this study where 212 patients presented to an emergency room, 11.8% of the patients had dental injuries

A lot of these patients presented with facial lacerations and facial fractures. Overall, 44% of patients needed surgery (5.9% needed major surgery and 38.2% needed minor surgery), and 50% needed maxillofacial follow-up

All 212 patients in this study received a head or face injury. 82% of patients didn't wear a helmet

Some more articles explaining dental injuries from escooter use:

Dental injuries on the rise thanks to e-scooter use

New study from U of A professor warns of dangers of scooter usage

In this Korean study, most patients without a helmet suffered some kind of facial trauma

This isn't just a matter of speed, either. If you're not convinced how often people go over the handlebars at lower speeds too, check out the first 25 seconds of this video by Electric Scooter Guide. That's a lot of faceplants at lower speeds! Or if you want a full playlist of people going over their handlebars, I've got you covered. Again see how many of them are faceplants!

And at higher speeds? It's not good. MAJOR TRIGGER WARNING for gore and death: here you will find a graphic picture of someone who was in an escooter accident, they weren't wearing a helmet and they sadly lost their life

I'll link some reddit posts of close calls where the posters were really glad to be wearing downhill/full face helmets, these are either text-only posts, or simple pics of scratched-up helmets: 1 2 3

Most of these accidents don't even involve other people or vehicles! According to this infographic, 80.2% of escooter accidents are 'falls':

So, now what?

If you don't currently have a helmet and are considering getting one, yay! Your first impulse might be to go out and buy a regular bicycle helmet, but remember: a lot of these injuries happen around your jaw and the front of your face! A bicycle helmet doesn't protect that part! When you fall on an escooter, you're likely to fall in ways that are different from a fall on a bike. So consider a downhill helmet (or a full-face, if you wanna channel your inner motorhead)!