Thought for the day...

cmartinez

Joined Jan 17, 2007
8,218

cmartinez

Joined Jan 17, 2007
8,218

nsaspook

Joined Aug 27, 2009
13,081
https://www.washingtonpost.com/busi...f63ab8b1370_story.html?utm_term=.1af1937c347a
They have been pouring into emergency rooms around the nation all summer, their bodies bearing a blend of injuries that doctors normally associate with victims of car wrecks — broken noses, wrists and shoulders, facial lacerations and fractures, as well as the kind of blunt head trauma that can leave brains permanently damaged.

When doctors began asking patients to explain their injuries, many were surprised to learn that the surge of broken body parts stemmed from the latest urban transportation trend: shared electric scooters.
...
“Injuries are coming in fast and furious,” said Michael Sise, chief of medical staff at Scripps Mercy Hospital in San Diego, noting that his team saw four severe scooter injuries last week. “It’s just a matter of time before someone is killed. I’m absolutely certain of it.”
F=MA

On a scooter if you take your hands off the handlebar, you will crash just about instantly (dynamically unstable) unlike most 2 wheel contraptions with some dynamic stability at speed. You're standing locked to the handlebars with a high center of gravity that makes maintaining control during a minor upset tricky without twisting or using the extended arms to balance. This usually means clutching the handlebar all the way down to near impact in a crash.

http://electron6.phys.utk.edu/101/CH4/dynamic_instability.htm

http://web.mit.edu/jabbott/Public/thesis_JonathanAbbott.pdf
 
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cmartinez

Joined Jan 17, 2007
8,218
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