An e-scooter accelerates faster than most people expect, has small wheels, and is almost silent. Those three facts explain nearly every kind of incident riders have. Here is what to do about them.
The thirty-second pre-ride check
Every time, before you set off:
- Brakes. Squeeze the brake lever — both levers, if your scooter has two. Firm bite point, no grinding.
- Folding latch (folding models). Fully closed and locked, with no play.
- Tyres. Firm to a hard thumb press, no visible cuts or bulges (see how to read pressure, wear and damage on scooter tyres).
- Lights. Front and rear on, even in daylight.
- Handlebars. Grab them and try to twist against the stem. No movement.
If any of those fail, do not ride it — putting each one right is covered in the monthly e-scooter maintenance checklist.
Braking is the skill worth practising
Small wheels and a short wheelbase mean weight transfers forward hard under braking. On a scooter with a front brake, the front wheel does most of the stopping, and it is also the one that will lock and wash out (see how drum, disc and electronic brakes behave differently).
Find an empty car park and practise:
- Use both brakes together if your scooter has front and rear brakes, with more pressure on the rear than you would on a bicycle.
- Shift your weight back and down as you brake — bend your knees, push your hips behind the deck.
- Learn your real stopping distance at 20 km/h and at 25 km/h. It is longer than you think, and much longer in the wet.
- Brake in a straight line. Braking hard mid-corner on small wheels is how people fall off.
Surfaces: the things that actually cause falls
A small scooter wheel does not roll over what a car wheel ignores. Treat these as hazards:
- Tram and railway tracks. Cross at as close to a right angle as you can manage. A wheel that drops into a rail groove stops instantly.
- Painted road markings and metal covers when wet. Effectively ice. Do not brake or turn on them.
- Wet leaves in autumn, especially over a drain cover (see riding an e-scooter through a European winter).
- Potholes and expansion joints. Unweight the bars and bend your knees rather than gripping rigidly.
- Gravel and loose sand on corner exits.
General rule: look further ahead than feels necessary. At 25 km/h you are covering seven metres a second.
Being seen matters more than on a bicycle
You are narrow, low and quiet. Drivers pulling out of junctions genuinely do not see scooters, and they do not hear them either.
- Run your lights in daylight, not just at night.
- Wear something with a reflective element on your moving parts — ankles and wrists read as motion to a driver in a way a static vest does not.
- Position yourself where you are visible rather than hugging the kerb, where you sit in a driver's blind spot and in the door zone of parked cars.
- Assume you have not been seen until you have eye contact.
Gear, in order of usefulness
- A helmet. Non-negotiable, and in several EU countries a legal requirement — for every scooter rider in some, for younger riders in others. A bicycle helmet meeting EN 1078 is the minimum; a helmet with more rear coverage is better, because scooter falls often go backwards.
- Gloves. In a low-speed fall you put your hands out, so your palms usually take the first impact. Gloves are the cheapest injury prevention there is.
- Wrist guards if you are new to riding.
- Knee pads for off-road or higher-speed riding.
- Eye protection. At 25 km/h an insect or a stone chip in the eye is a genuine hazard.
Every e-scooter ordered from our store comes with a free waterproof handlebar bag and a pair of isinwheel protective gloves, so there is no reason to skip the gloves.
Things not to do
- Do not carry a passenger. Every e-scooter we sell is a single-rider machine; a second person destabilises the steering and overloads the deck and brakes.
- Do not ride with one hand or while holding a phone.
- Do not use headphones that block traffic noise.
- Do not remove the speed limiter. Beyond the legal problem, stopping distance grows quickly with speed, and a fall at higher speed on small wheels is far more serious.
- Do not ride after drinking. Drink-driving rules apply to e-scooter riders in most EU countries, and the penalties can be severe.
The rules vary — check yours
There is no single EU rulebook for e-scooters. Each member state, and sometimes each city, sets its own rules on:
- Where you may ride — road, cycle lane, pavement
- Maximum permitted speed and motor power
- Minimum age
- Whether a helmet is mandatory
- Whether third-party insurance or registration is required
- Lighting and bell requirements
Your scooter arrives factory-limited to no more than the speed permitted for private e-scooters in most EU countries, but that does not settle the rest. Check your national and municipal rules before your first journey — a machine that is legal in one country may not be legal on public roads in the next.
Need your model's rated motor power, supplied speed or lighting details to compare with your local rules? Ask us.