Nine Safety Tips for Your Child Riding an Electric Scooter
Kid’s electric scooters have become quite popular nowadays. While they’re fun to ride, they can also be potentially dangerous if your child isn’t following safety guidelines.
It’s essential to train your child to ride their scooter attentively and carefully. A majority of accidents happen when children lose concentration while riding especially when distracted by the surrounding environment.
Here’s a look at several electric scooter safety tips and rules you need to teach your child.
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Wearing Proper Protective Gear
Sometimes, an accident is unavoidable. That’s why you should make sure your kid(s) is always wearing the right protective gear.
There’s no such thing as going overboard when it comes to your child’s wellbeing and safety. So, here’s a look at the different scooter-riding gear you should consider buying for your child.
Starting from head to the feet, your kid needs a:
- Helmet,
- Mouth guard,
- Shoulder straps,
- Elbow straps,
- Knee straps,
- Ankle caps, and
- Gloves.
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Inspect the Scooter’s Tires
Making sure the tires of your kid’s electric powered scooter are in excellent condition can significantly improve your child’s safety when riding. Since you can’t always be there when your child is riding their scooter, it’s important you teach your kid how to examine the tires before they ride off.
The main things to check are the pressure and overall condition of the tires. Show your kid how to examine the tire treads to determine if they’re safe to ride on or they need replacement.
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Watch The Surrounding Environment and Road Carefully
Train your kid to always concentrate on the road, so they stay on the right path. Also, instruct your kid to be observant to make sure they’re still alert and ready to react whenever an incident occurs.
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Watch Out For Imperfections on the Road
Make sure your child is well-educated on how to watch for road imperfections like puddles, potholes and speed bumps. According to statistics, these road conditions are among the top reasons why accidents happen.
Instruct your child to avoid panicking and make sudden turns when approaching a pothole or speed bump while driving at high speeds. In such situations, show your child to react by slowly reducing their speed while bracing for impact to avoid colliding with vehicles or falling off the scooter.
When it’s rainy, puddles tend to form on roads increasing the potential for sliding. Therefore, it’s important to make sure your child rides their electric scooter much slower during inclement weather conditions.
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Slippery Surfaces
Your kids need to be extra cautious when riding their scooters over slippery surfaces like over railway lines, muddy roads, wet roads, etc. Such surfaces are hard to navigate.
As such, your child should always maintain a slower speed in which he/she can navigate the electric scooter safely and with more ease.
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The Art of Braking
Using the front brakes increases the likelihood of the scooter slipping. It’s advisable kids should always use the rear brakes to control the scooter while braking.
Another form of braking your child needs to know is gentle braking. Instant hard braking increases the chances of a scooter experiencing wheel locking.
When the wheels lock due to hard braking, it can throw the scooter off balance, forcing your child to make an appointment with the pavement.
Braking gently will help your kid maintain balance while slowly bringing his or her scooter to a stop.
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Be Relaxed and Calm While Riding In the Rain
Riding a scooter in the rain can be quite frightening, especially for children who’ve driven a fairly-long distance from home. Instruct your child stay calm, and to make sure they maintain a relaxed body to navigate back home safely.
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When there’s Lighting, Stop Riding
Even if your child likes riding in the rain, it’s important to make them aware he should stop riding once lighting hits. Lighting is very dangerous and could cause severe injury or death if struck. Make sure your child knows how to stop and find shelter when lightning strikes.
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Wear Visible Gear and Clothing
Wearing visible gear is essential especially during twilight and early evening. Being visible maybe the only difference between life and death to your kid.
If your child is wearing colors that blend in with the road and surroundings, the chances of them being hit by a vehicle increase exponentially.
Make sure your child has gear and clothing that’s visible from far away distances. Such gear and clothing as shoulder pads, knee pads and reflective coats or jackets are essential to your child’s safety.
Riding an electric scooter is fun. It’s one recreational activity your child will truly enjoy. However, scooter riding must be something they can do without endangering themselves or those around them.
Following the above tips will help ensure your child continues to enjoy riding their electric scooter while staying safe.
Maybe your child loves to skateboard. Here are a four tips you can use to help prevent your child from getting hurt at the skate park.
