Winter Weather Riding: How to Keep Safe.
Winter weather may make for a great wintery photo backdrop, but when it comes to personal electric transport it means one more important reason to be prepared and stay vigilant while on your ride out.
Keep yourself and your community protected this season with these 6 essential tips for safe winter e-scooter riding.
- Stay Warm and Visible: When you’re bundling up for your ride, ensure that you’re wearing bright colours whenever possible and consider wearing a flashing light and/or applying reflective tape to your helmet, backpack or jacket. Shorter days mean less daylight, so make sure you’re easily visible no matter what time you’re riding.
- Never Drink and Ride: If you’re drinking alcohol at any time during the winter season, DO NOT RIDE AN E-SCOOTER. Not only does it put you and others at risk, but it’s against the law and if caught you will be fined and risk potential prosecution.
- Take it Slow: All vehicles take longer to stop in wet and cold weather. E-scooters are no exception. Rain, snow and ice can make for slippery and unpredictable road conditions, so ride slowly and give ample space between you and any other vehicle in front of you to ensure you’re in control of your ride at all times.
- Make Yourself Heard: Sound is a great way to let pedestrians, cyclists, drivers and other scooter riders know you’re approaching. Most E-Scooters come equipped with a friendly-sounding bell, or use your own voice, to ensure that road users are aware of your presence.
- Pay Attention to Parking: Snowy winter weather can mean narrower lanes, paths and reduced space for pedestrians.Be a good citizen and don’t block pavements/sidewalks, access ramps, cycle paths or any other public area.
- As with all electric vehicles. Very cold weather can effect the battery, making it run down on charge quicker. When planning your ride out make sure you charge your e-scooter in advance and whilst out keep an eye of the battery life so you’re not caught short. You should never charge a lithium-ion battery below zero degrees Celsius. Always wait for the battery to get warm at room temperature, the issue with charging a battery when it’s too cold is that you’ll cause irreversible damage on what’s called lithium plating inside the battery, you shouldn’t really charge fast either, you want to charge as slow as you can always above about 5 degrees C.
The ManFirth Electric Team