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By Edward Turner


City people everywhere can be seen utilizing electric mobility rather than expensive cars or laborious bicycles. In fact, the scooters we used to buy for our children has been powered up as the children have grown up. Nevertheless, us older folks have a problem keeping up unless we race them on our electric tricycle.

Most of us have seen young people from ages five to twenty-five speeding down sidewalks on scooters. It rarely occurs to ask ourselves why people from age fifty-five to seventy-five have failed to take advantage of such an economic means of transport. Well, the problem with the scooter is balance, and to a lesser extent, comfort.

Older people may need to sit as often as they stand when traveling. The standing pose is forced upon us with both traditional standing scooters, as well as their counterpart most commonly referred to as a Segway. The basic design involves only two wheels with an upright handle.

Even if the model is designed to fit a taller adult, it is still standing. Discomfort creates distractions just as dangerous as a cell phone or the loose dog down the street. Older people really cannot risk having an accident, especially since the tricycles are sometimes designed to go faster than scooters or their Segway counterpart.

Anyone riding upon such a contraption must be aware of the same dangers as any pedestrian. Only difference is, this pedestrian is moving at 8 to 15 mph, able to pass bicycles going uphill, and certainly capable of getting into catastrophic accidents. The older the rider, the more catastrophic the injuries are likely to be.

Tricycles allow the rider/driver to sit in an upright pose that promotes greater alertness to their environment. A nice round seat, probably chosen to match the size of their own bum, is the most ideal scenario for a long day of site seeing in the city. Even if one has lost their driving license for motor cars twenty years prior, they are still able to safely motor themselves to whatever destination they set their sites on.

Since we are all notorious thrill seekers, breaks are a required element of the tricycles we speed about on. Scooters have not always included much of a breaking system, and this limits the operator to being a rider instead of a driver. Since there is the welfare of pedestrians, as well as the well-being of the rider/driver at stake, it only makes sense that one have adequate breaking availability at eight miles per hour.

Other safety features available are a horn to warn others of their approach, headlamp and rear lights, and the bright colors available all help them to stand out in any light. One might even string LED lights through the wheel spokes in order to increase their visibility. Like bicycles, little can be done in the event of rain, but many models can be folded down to make it easier to carry on a bus or train.

Unfortunately, the one safety feature that cannot be bought is sense enough to hold the front wheel with both hands. Tricycles are generally stable when ridden properly, as it is based on a tripod structure. However, not every rider understands that their body makes part of the tripod, and without a foot on each pedal and a hand on each handle, the intended design is incomplete.




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