this post was submitted on 01 Oct 2023

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Every single Onewheel is being recalled after four deaths (www.theverge.com)

submitted 1 year ago by L4s@lemmy.world to c/technology@lemmy.world

22 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Every single Onewheel is being recalled after four deaths::Future Motion, along with the CPSC, is recalling 300,000 Onewheel self-balancing skateboards. Four crash deaths were reported, and the company resisted recall last year.

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[–] ColeSloth@discuss.tchncs.de 52 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

early adopters, however, owners can receive a “pro-rated credit of $100 to the purchase of a new board,” according to Mudd. The credit will only be issued after owners confirm that they have disposed of the old model.

What a joke. Their idea of a recall on those slightly older boards is to destroy them and get $100 off a new one? These boards are in the $2,000+ range. You can't really find an old beat up used one that's still in working condition for less than like $600.

This isn't a real recall. They're just having newer owners patch the software and providing a scapegoat for litigation purposes of older boards with what amounts to a 5% off coupon.

[–] LibertyLizard@slrpnk.net 34 points 1 year ago (6 children)

Four deaths over two years seems very low… I hope they are applying the same level of scrutiny to cars as they are here.

[–] Heratiki@lemmy.ml 48 points 1 year ago

The reasoning for the recall isn’t necessarily operator error but overlooked safety suggestions. The OneWheel is billed as a self balancing electric skateboard and while it is the “feature” causing all of the issues is you can exceed the balancing limitations of the device while using it effectively causing it to stop balancing and ditch the rider at speed. See you lean to go faster. While leaning forward to speed up the board will sense a balancing issue and usually try and right itself by trying to nose the board back level again before slowing down. What’s happening in this instance is that instead of doing this the board will just shut off and nose dive into the ground throwing the rider.

Imagine if you would using the brakes on your bicycle only for it to decide you’re going too fast and just go “welp I can’t stop you so I better give up.. good luck!”

[–] wagoner@infosec.pub 27 points 1 year ago

There's is a design deficiency.

"Some crashes occurred due to Onewheel skateboards malfunctioning after being pushed to certain limits. "

Cars get recalled all the time for faults.

[–] Psythik@lemm.ee 14 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Read the article. These deaths were caused by safety features that should have been installed but weren't. Like if an auto manufacturer didn't put a rev limiter or airbags in their cars.

[–] Eheran@lemmy.world 6 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Yes, seems absurd. 4 death at 300'000 units over years, that is less than 1 per 100'000 per year. Cyclists are at that level - over the while population, not just those driving bikes! I would have expected at least 10x that number. Why are they recalling?

[–] bamboo@lemmy.blahaj.zone 14 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Some crashes occurred due to Onewheel skateboards malfunctioning after being pushed to certain limits. The Onewheel GT, Onewheel Pint X, Onewheel Pint, and Onewheel Plus XR will receive a firmware update that will add a new warning “Haptic Buzz” feedback that riders can feel and hear when the vehicle enters an error state, is low on battery, or is nearing its limits and needs to slow down.

Sounds like there is could be legitimate software errors and if you're trusting the software to respond to stopping for example, and it doesn't, then that's a problem. Adding a warning buzz seems like a bandaid but i guess is better than nothing. Regardless of the death count statistics, if there are bugs in the systems people are relying on which impact safety, that's not something which we should tolerate being ignored so the manufacturers can save money.

[–] ColeSloth@discuss.tchncs.de 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

It's not really a hardware error so much as ignorant people who can't judge their current speeds and don't wear helmets. You have to be creeping up on 20MPH and still in a heavy forward lean for the system to hard fail like that. The article was also written by someone completely ignorant to physics or how onewheels operate. The writer at one point stupidly says they could make the ow slow to a stop or disable the motor but keep the balance function powered on.

[–] GamingChairModel@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

You have to be creeping up on 20MPH and still in a heavy forward lean for the system to hard fail like that.

Wait so this particular failure mode occurs if you're in a forward lean when it approaches its top speed? And as soon as it isn't able to push hard enough to offset the lean the front dips so that it catches the edge and the rider flips off of it?

If simply exceeding the top speed leads to catastrophic failure, and there's literally no way to safely engineer in a speed limiter, that's an inherently dangerous design.

[–] Eheran@lemmy.world 0 points 1 year ago

That is correct, of course. But if so, it should be the first thing mentioned.

[–] killeronthecorner@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

I guess it depends whether they've identified a hardware fault and are preparing for potential litigation, though I'd be surprised as they haven't disclosed anything so far.

[–] tsonfeir@lemm.ee -5 points 1 year ago (2 children)

And it’s probable that they were “exceeding limits” and 3/4 didn’t have a helmet.

Natural selection.

[–] Heratiki@lemmy.ml 12 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Not wearing helmets is definitely a Darwin Award. But the OneWheel itself has a tendency to just shut off and nose dive when limits are exceeded. Usually at max speed. Even though it’s programmed and designed to be self righting it can sometimes not act correctly and just fling you off. So you could be cruising along just like you always do and when you start leaning too hard it will slowly nose back up and slow you down to keep you within the limits. But let’s say that’s happening for the 80th time and you happen upon a small rock at the same time only for the software to be unable to correct and nose dive into the ground instead. To the rider nothing would be different until the unit nose dived throwing them usually at full speed.

[–] thanks_shakey_snake@lemmy.ca 4 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Odd opportunity to speculatively victim blame, but okay.

[–] tsonfeir@lemm.ee -4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

It was pretty clear in the article. Read it.

[–] thanks_shakey_snake@lemmy.ca 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

It looks to me like the article is about boards malfunctioning.

[–] tsonfeir@lemm.ee 0 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Some crashes occurred due to Onewheel skateboards malfunctioning after being pushed to certain limits.

You: my car malfunctioned after going 150mph, it’s the car’s fault.

The solution was to add a more obvious warning, that can still be ignored.

You’ll hear whatever you want to hear though, and it has no effect on me.

[–] thanks_shakey_snake@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 year ago

Me: "My car malfunctioned while going some undisclosed and possibly reasonable speed. It's bad that it malfunctioned, and the product would be safer for everyone if it didn't do that."

I haven't seen anything to suggest that the victims were all behaving excessively recklessly, as in your "driving 150mph" example. "Certain limits" is pretty vague, and based on context, sound like they pertain more to hardware constraints than to dangerous behavior.

[–] Aarrodri@lemmy.world 10 points 1 year ago (1 children)

We knew this was coming: https://youtu.be/Q_Mk-5XkSmY?si=aurnUipsY3VtOYt-

[–] PipedLinkBot@feddit.rocks 1 points 1 year ago

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[–] autotldr@lemmings.world 5 points 1 year ago

This is the best summary I could come up with:

At the time, the company issued a press release in objection to the CPSC and called the agency’s statements “unjustified and alarmist.”

Now Future Motion is moving forward with a voluntary recall it chose not to do almost a year earlier.

“This update is the culmination of months of work with the CPSC,” reads the company’s recall website.

For early adopters, however, owners can receive a “pro-rated credit of $100 to the purchase of a new board,” according to Mudd.

Alongside Future Motion’s blink on the decision to recall Onewheel, the company shared a new video on YouTube highlighting the new Haptic Buzz feature as well as best practices when riding.

“We’ve been working closely with the CPSC for over a year in order to develop this new safety feature,” Mudd says in the video.

The original article contains 536 words, the summary contains 135 words. Saved 75%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!

[–] Pxtl@lemmy.ca 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

The onewheel seems like a personal-mobility answer to the V22 Osprey: a vehicle with amazing functionality and versatility in its happy path, but is fundamentally unsafe in failure because of the basic physics of the situation. If it ever even momentarily loses power, the nose drops and bites the asphalt and the rider goes flying.