• 🍉 Albert 🍉@lemmy.world
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    21 hours ago

    that thing is still safer than a car. by so much they aren’t even in the same league.

    unless you get hit be a car. because the car is the danger.

      • 🍉 Albert 🍉@lemmy.world
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        55 minutes ago

        unless it goes at stupid car speeds, if you wear proper protection, those crashes shouldn’t be too bad.

        and they’re going at stupid speeds, then tf did they expect.

        And even then, it’s still safer than a car. given than a car in an accident can kill a handful of civilians and keep the driver safe, that thing puts the driver in danger and at worst they might injure a passerby.

    • xxce2AAb@feddit.dk
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      19 hours ago

      And, jokes aside, that dude is dressed to handle the fallout much better than anyone who ever got behind the wheel of a car.

      • julietOscarEcho@sh.itjust.works
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        19 hours ago

        Am actually really interested in the safety stats. Would guess on those things you aren’t doing more than 40, so probably not too bad for rider vs e.g. motorbikes where the temptation is to crazy speeds. And with it being smaller/lighter than a car it’s clearly safer for pedestrians and other vehicles.

        • dermanus@lemmy.ca
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          16 hours ago

          I briefly owned one of these. Mine topped out at 32 kph (20 mph) but most models went faster.

          IMO the biggest risk is if you accelerate too hard the engine cuts out even if you’re st high speed. And of course you’re leaning forward when it happens because that’s how you accelerate.

            • dermanus@lemmy.ca
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              15 hours ago

              I never found the braking distance to be a problem. To brake you basically just sit down and it kicks the motor into reverse. Because it uses the motor to rebalance the other way its much faster than if it were something like a disc brake.

          • julietOscarEcho@sh.itjust.works
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            15 hours ago

            Yeah but how many users are actually that brave/stupid? 100kph feels FAST on a motorbike, I can’t imagine how it feels on one of these 😬

    • whatsisface@sh.itjust.works
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      18 hours ago

      I very strongly disagree. If you’re taking those things on roads you are very, very much in danger. To brake you need to physically shift your entire body instead of just moving a hand or foot, and they have motor brakes instead of friction braking.

      https://electrek.co/2025/10/16/new-electric-unicycle-hits-an-insane-93-mph-top-speed/

      Cars don’t get speed wobbles. Cars have 3 extra wheels in case one wheel hits something slippery.

      • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works
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        15 hours ago

        Sure, they can go that fast, but that’s not the primary mode of operation. Most of the time, I see these going ~10 mph, and I’ll often pass them on my bicycle (I go 15-20 unless there are peds).

        Going at unsafe speeds typically only impacts the rider, because they are small enough that peds can easily get out of the way. Going at unsafe speeds in a car puts other people at risk because they’re big and often around other people.

        Maybe these are an issue in other parts of the world, but they don’t seem to be one in mine.