how safe are mopeds?

[notime]

I'm thinking about ways to get around my town. There are only about 3000 or 3500 people in my town so the traffic isn't that dangerous. I'm wondering how safe mopeds are? I mean, I don't need one that goes that fast I'm thinking about one that goes perhaps 30mph.

I'll just avoid high traffic and so forth. I realize this is a question for my neurologist, but I just want other opinions about the dangers of it. I mean, I would wear my helmet and so forth. I'm just wondering is it risky? Or is it quite safe?

 

[AlohaBird]

Perhaps one of those 3 wheeled motorcycles or a motorcycle with a side car so that if you should have an episode at least you wouldn't tip over.
Not sure about the severity/frequency of your E. so yes, asking the neuro is the best plan.

 

[Nakamova]

If your seizures are fully-controlled, if your medication doesn't affect your ability to be an alert and responsible driver, and if you have experience with driving a moped, then your risks are similar to any other moped driver -- that is, you need to be careful because you may be less visible to other drivers, less able to maneuver in traffic, and more vulnerable to injury in the event of collision or accident.

But if you don't fully meet the criteria above, your risks are likely to be higher. I know it can be very tough to be without transportation and/or dependent on others, so it's great to be looking at ways to get around town on your own. But you should definitely ask your neuro to weigh in.

 

[notime]

Well, I don't know by fully controlled. I haven't had any seizures since August and the only reason I believe why was because my neurologist took me off of keppra fully, and I skipped one pill and had a seizure then few weeks later I took my medicine correctly and had a seizure.

So......... I believe my seizures are controlled. I think I would be close to 6 months seizure free and qualify for driving a car (edited: in other states). To be honest, there's a back way to a university which is further but a lot less traffic. No, I don't have experience driving and never had a license. But, one can always learn over time. Just start off practicing, and slowly increase it until I'm good enough to drive one on the road.

The backroad doesn't have much traffic and the university is only like mile and half away on it so I think I would be safe. It's just a community college, but they offer GED classes so if my relatives can't help sometimes I can take it.

I don't need a fast moped 30 to 35mph with a good helmet would work.

 

[Matthew74]

Notime,

You may know this, since you mention 30mph, but your state law determines what kind of scooter or moped you can drive without a liscense. It's usually restricted to 25 or 30 mph, and a certain size or horsepower, typically the least powerful new model they sell. They have a speed restricter on them that prevents them from going faster.

I was going to get one. I wanted a scooter because riding my bicycle wore me out, you can dress nicer and not end up all sweaty, you can carry groceries easier, it's faster, and riding my bicycle brought on seizures. I used to be very brave and confident about riding my bicycle on the road, but for me now drivers are entirely too hostile, reckless, and ignorant. Ive nearly been killed more than once, my uncle got hit, and I saw a guy get hit. The bicylist was in the legal right in all of these cases. There are lots of videos of people getting hit online. People used to yell at me all the time just for spite. You can be the most careful, defensive, experienced, law abiding, and alert rider in the world and still get taken out (maybe even on purpose - I'm not exaggerating). They probably won't run you down on purpose, but they will definitely run you off the road. You can control what you do, but not what they do. I imagine that riding a scooter would be much safer, and that drivers would be much more tolerant of a scooter, but you would face some of the same dangers, especially not being seen. That doesn't at all mean you shouldn't ride, but it's something to consider if you do.

 

[MrKap]

hmmmnnn. I'm guessing you have muscle contractions during a seizure? Perhaps the only thing you need to worry about is the throttle. Perhaps a hand grip which is activated by a twist would be more dangerous than one which is pushed on by the thumb (like classic bike gear shifts).

Pedlecs are another option, however they are not that popular. They only provide power assist with each pedal stroke, so if you cease to pedal, the ebike/scooter stops going.

I've retrofitted an old adult sized tricycle with an ebike kit. It has one of those oversized seats. It is so comfortable, I find that I enjoy riding lengthy distances that much more, however I wouldn't know how comfortable a large scooter is. The storage space in the back basket however is substantially larger than a scooter. With the ebikes/etrikes you are not so much limited to the road and can take all the bike path shortcuts. Over the summer a 100km trip both pedaling and powering, is no problem, you won't break a sweat. Especially on a three wheeler. reserving the power for hills can really ease the ride, and lengthen the distance you can get. It's the hills that make a bike ride uncomfortable, plus sitting upright. I did witness a scooter break down and those guys when they break down, have a miserable push ahead of them. When an ebike breaks down, it's not so bad, and parts such as chains, or tires are available everywhere, in the event that happens.

The scooter vendors in my area, seem to be selling road legal but bike path illegal scooters. So, they are capitalizing on the ebike trends, but in reality they are not welcome on the trails and such as the ebikes are.

I personally do not enjoy riding in traffic next to cars. I'd rather take the sidewalk or a bike path. Oddly enough, a long empty rural road is great riding, but as soon as there is a high speed limit, cars can wiz right by you at uncomortable speeds pushing you off to the shoulders, ebike or scooter. If you have extreme hills in your area, go with gas or something. I've seen people with mini motor bikes. Mountain bikes with loud gas motors, and I am sure there is are endless options out there. I live near an escarpment, so I have to make sure I plan any trip properly when conquering those hills, otherwise the batteries will not last you long at all. In fact, on a brutal hill I'll opt to walk the bike up, rather than kill the batteries. Not too many hills are brutal, I'm referring basically to mountains. Ones that put cars to the test.

If you go the ebike/etrike kit route, the only major pit fall is that the motor cannot attach to an aluminum fork. It needs to be steel and preferable re-enforced if you are going to push the limits of the bike.

If you search youtube, 'Hybrid Electric Trike 130 Miles Per Gallon ! Bicycle! Tricycle! Gas Bike' he has an over the top hybrid thing happening. There is alot of good stuff on youtube.

 

[Matthew74]

Thanks for posting about this.

One of these might work for me. I used to wear myself out riding all the time. At one point I was riding 4 miles to and from work everyday, not far for a cyclist, but hard when you are taking AEDs and have epilepsy. Like you say I'd make sure to get one that I could ride on a bike path (and possibly not too obvious looking, for the same reason). As a commuter I would definitely get fenders and a rack with some kind of basket(s) for groceries. I noticed that a lot of them have "grip shift" twist shifters. They work, but have a tendency to get messed up and wear out with use. They are easy enough to fix, and if they are a standard brand easy to replace, but decent click shifters are more dependable. Li-on batteries are much better than Ni-cads (a lot lighter and smaller - I know from using cordless drills).

A riding suggestion: When there's traffic ride further into the lane, a foot or more to the left of the white line (on the right side of the road, with traffic). In urban situations with heavy slow traffic, at intersections, on small bridges, or some empty double lane roads, I'll even ride smack in the middle of the lane. Drivers hate it, but it's often safer. The idea is that if you ride too far to the side cars ignore you. They don't make room when passing at 100 mph, pass with only inches to spare (quite literally), and run you into the ditch. Trucks can actually hit you if they are not aware of how wide or long their trailers are. If you are a little in the way they have to pay attention, slow down, and pull over a bit. You also have somewhere to go if they come too close.

I try to stay out of the way as much as possible, but visible.
But I'm with you, use an empty road when you can.

 

[MrKap]

^yeah, the lithium are great. The thing with a three wheeler is that can you carry that much more battery as well. The problem with the lithiums is they are not good for minus zero weather supposedly (I won't risk it so I haven't tested). I don't know about the nicads, but I was thinking about trying out car batteries (lead acid) for the winter (next one). They've got these newer fast charge ones called LiFePo4, but i am so worried that if invest in them, I'll end up getting fake ones. There are risks with getting batteries, especially some of the lithiums, like trustfire, and so on.