Now Reading: Electric Unicycles – One Wheel Short of a Good Idea?
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Electric Unicycles – One Wheel Short of a Good Idea?
Q: I saw an electric unicycle on a city street violating various traffic laws. I looked up what I saw online, and some of these unicycles have top speeds of over 50 mph. Do you have thoughts on what kind of vehicle this qualifies as?
A: I looked at the website for Inmotion, an electric unicycle company, (I’m calling you out, Inmotion) and they had videos of riders on city streets violating various traffic laws and taking unnecessary risks; running red lights, riding in the oncoming lane, speeding, weaving through traffic, riding on the sidewalk, switching from the sidewalk to the street mid-block, I could go on.
What I couldn’t find on their website, or any of the other sites that sold electric unicycles, was any information about their legality on public roads. I did find plenty of phrases implying that they’re legal, like “Glide through busy city streets,”, “perfect for daily commuters,” and “can be used for short journeys or commutes in congested urban areas.”
I get that telling your customers they won’t be able to ride on public roads with their new, several-thousand-dollar high-speed electric unicycle might affect your sales. But if they prioritized clarity and public safety over hype, I think they’d feel obliged to at least mention it. Since they won’t, I will.
You can buy a street-legal electric unicycle, but it’s not what you described. The law permits electric one-wheeled vehicles that have a 2000-watt motor and a top speed of less than 20 mph. These fit in a category the law calls Electric Personal Assistive Mobility Device, or EPAMD.
An electric unicycle that exceeds those limits is not an EPAMD. It also doesn’t fit any of the classes of electric-assisted bicycle (needs at least two wheels and even in class three is limited to 28 mph), or the definition of a motorcycle (no handlebar or steering wheel, among other details).
It does, however, meet the definition of a motor vehicle, which is, in part, “a vehicle that is self-propelled.” There are some exclusions, like golf carts, EPAMDs, power wheelchairs, and a few others, but an electric unicycle is not on that list.
You probably see where I’m going with this. A motor vehicle requires registration. As the law says, “It is unlawful for a person to operate any vehicle on a public highway of this state without having in full force and effect a current and proper vehicle registration and displaying license plates on the vehicle.”
What would it take to get an electric unicycle registered in Washington (or in any state, really)? Impossible might be the most accurate term, but at a minimum, more than it’s worth. All the vehicles you see driving around have met an extensive list of safety and equipment requirements as set by the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS), and adopted in Washington State law.
You’re not going to get an electric unicycle to comply with FMVSS as a standard motor vehicle. Even if you could convince the Washington legislature to classify them as motorcycles, which have much lower safety requirements, it would be tricky. Just as a start, where would you mount the required mirror?
For anyone who thinks this is just the government trying to ruin a bit of fun, consider that motorcycles, which are demonstrably safer than electric unicycles, and require training and endorsement to ride, make up only three percent of registered vehicles in Washington but account for 16 percent of traffic fatalities. We don’t need a more dangerous vehicle category with untrained riders creating a new tragic data set in our state.
Kary
So it’s basically a one-wheeled Segway device. Does that make a Segway an assisted bicycle if it has limited power/speed?
DOUG DAHL
A Segway would be an Electric Personal Assistive Mobility Device (EPAMD) under Washington law. Here’s how it’s described in the law: A self-balancing device with two wheels not in tandem, designed to transport only one person by an electric propulsion system with an average power of seven hundred fifty watts (one horsepower) having a maximum speed on a paved level surface, when powered solely by such a propulsion system while ridden by an operator weighing one hundred seventy pounds, of less than twenty miles per hour. Here’s the law in full: https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=46.04.1695
Kary
Thanks, I missed the “tandem” part of the definition of bicycle, and in fact didn’t really think about what tandem meant outside of tandem bicycles. Now I’m wondering whether tandem is really a great descriptor for tandem bicycles, given all bicycles are tandem wheeled devices. Tandem bicycles are tandem tandem devices, which would have made them a response for a Jeopardy category this week. 😉
Having looked it up, apparently the term goes back to horse drawn carts, where having one horse in front of the other is to have them in tandem.
Warren
Not to mention the one I saw today had no lights and was difficult to see, at best… No helmet on the rider either..
Bob Barnes
I’m in Florida and ride a EUC (electric unicycle) every day. I follow all laws of that of a bicycle. I ride on the street and on multi-purpose trails giving way to pedestrians, kids, other cyclists, dog walkers and fitness walkers and runners. Was only stopped once in three years by a deputy sheriff who told me I can’t ride on the street as he called it an electric mobility device. While sitting in his patrol car in front of his laptop, I asked him to look up the definition of a wlec pers mobility device. Well, after he confirmed those devices were defined to have 2, 3 or four wheels needless to say I rode off on my one wheeled half electric bicycle.
Patricia Tawney
the pair on saw on a rural state hwy were really geared up. bright clothing and all the helmets and pads you can imagine. they were going about 30 MPH, but could quickly slip up and had very easy to read hand signs. and while the didn’t have mirrors they easily turned to see behind them with out visual interference of car walls. they made be nervous at first but these two drivers were really being careful. so, its possible to be safe. I have witness cars driving 70 in the safety zone, passing when the solid line was on his side, all while watching his phone. so, any vehicle can be unsafe. Accident in motorcycle occur most often from cars being careless. I have seen motorcycles doing the between cars thing on the hwy. Legal only in CA. While these aren’t for me, I think they could be a real space saver in traffic.
DOUG DAHL
Yes, you can protect yourself with the right gear and respect speed limits while riding an electric unicycle (EU). But here’s the thing; it’s nearly inevitable that anyone who rides these will crash. That’s not my opinion; that’s from reading forums for EU owners. We expect motorcycle riders to demonstrate proficiency to get a motorcycle endorsement, and there are safety standards for street-legal motorcycles, but there’s no test for EU riders to show that they’re competent, and no safety standards for the vehicles. (You can find owners talking about all kinds of safety problems with some models, often resulting in crashes.)
As I mentioned in the article, motorcycle riders are over-represented in fatal crashes, by a lot. Per mile traveled in Washington, motorcyclists are killed in crashes at a rate 80 times greater than vehicle occupants. (https://www.thewisedrive.com/is-it-a-moped-or-a-motorcycle/)
You mentioned that most motorcycle crashes happen from car drivers being careless. That’s a commonly held, but incorrect belief. About 40 percent of fatal motorcycle crashes are single vehicle crashes. Of the crashes that involve another driver, 42 percent involved a speeding motorcyclist (compared to 5 percent for the other driver), 52 percent involved an impaired motorcyclist (compared to 7 percent for the other driver). Other drivers failing to yield is a factor in 24 percent of motorcycle fatalities, so while it’s true that other drivers cause some motorcycle casualties, most motorcycle deaths are the result of rider actions.
I point this out not to blame motorcyclists, but to emphasize that even with safety standards and additional licensing requirements, riding on two wheels has additional risk. Cut that down to one wheel, with no safety standards and no evidence of sufficient rider skill, and we’re inviting serious crashes.
Ryan Wagner
I’ve ridden electric unicycles for 3 years. You start with a small one practicing in parking lots, parks, trails. When your skill is sufficient you can commute on residential roads or by sidewalk or bike path going an appropriate speed for whatever context. They are very adept at a variety of contexts. You can be a pedestrian, a bike, an ATV, a snow mobile, and they are approaching being motorcycles. They are an excellent mobility assistive device for those able to ride them. They require skill development to be capable in their various contexts.
The riders are fully dependent on their skill in managing the experience. The protection they wear helps mitigate risks. But do realize competence has been developed over time by them. When riding one you become very very aware of your environment and we are not fond of pain.
These vehicles take around 15 cents to 70 cents to charge.
They allow you as a person to have mobility that you can push around like a suitcase in a grocery store, ride alongside a friend that is walking, ride with bicycles and then travel on a road to get home. All in one package. They feel amazing and you get in fairly good shape riding one do the all the micro balancing your muscles do. I’ve gained 25+ lbs in muscle mass myself since taking them up.
They are good for the world.
Have you seen the bad drivers that choose to drive an SUV to protect themselves from accidents? 4000 lbs of bad driver. An electric unicycle ways 20 to 130 lbs by comparison.
Sometimes we may drive a little different than what you may expect. Try one. There are people even in their 70s learning to ride one and getting to experience going on long “walks” again. It’s a skill that will reward you throughout your life with the joy you had when you were a child.