I’ve had so many falls, I started out with longboarding when I was about 13 and as a 13 year old it’s pretty easy to bounce off pavement at push boarding speeds, I’d guess I’m somewhere under 800 falls but I’ve had 3 that were memorable and scary, all 3 of them were faults either with the vesc itself or with the way I set it up. And all three of them were under 35mph. When I fall by my own fault it seems I can usually do something about it before I hit the ground (not really even of my own accord mind you) when it’s a mechanical/electronic failure is when the scary falls happen.
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I’ve had two falls. Both avoidable.
First was too fast on DKP trucks that were too lose. Came off at 24 mph and I got lucky and no major injuries.
Second was thottle cut out under acceleration.
Full face helmet and gloves are a must, and I recommend armour too.
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It is worth noting that I meant that mostly for sub 25mph speeds and street riding. Probably should have made that more clear, but the guy does seem to want to avoid a hospital trip or injury so I was writing under the assumption he’d not be insane going above 30mph
A proper bail shouldn’t be stopping you immediately either unless done at a super low speed. (5mph I want to say but maybe up to 10?)
Also you can easily go from an attempt to run to a roll if you need it at a higher speed which is similar to what you see from people doing parkour. They land first then roll. I will agree that if someone knows they’re prone to landing flat on their face or trying to catch themselves with their wrists, then it won’t be a good method.
Not sure this is a great example since this guyin the video shouldn’t have been going that fast to begin with. 0 attempts were made to correct that fishtail and he just bailed which was a dumb move. Way better to at least attempt to correct the fishtail, fail, and get thrown off instead since you typically end up sliding more that way. More burns but less chance for broken bones.
I think it is worth mentioning that I have never once fallen directly onto my shoulders at any point when either getting thrown from my board or when bailing. So I could be missing something here due to being good at falling and having good muscle memory/reactions in place before I started skating. 
My shoulders have only ever gotten injured due to the impact taken on my elbow/ forearms, and then one time my arm got twisted so far around that it should have dislocated my shoulder which really fucking hurt. the one benefit of hypermobile joints is avoiding full dislocations
Yeah maybe unclear phrasing here: I don’t mean you have a big risk of hitting your shoulders, I meant the profile of the fall is straight on. Chest straight, looking ahead, shoulders straight. I was trying to contrast that direction of falling vs the rolling effect from rolling straight off the board instead of running
On the 25mph and guy doing it wrong points though: what I was saying is that if you practice running it will be your instinct, and if that kicks in above your running speed then you’re in trouble. So as I said, don’t practice running off, just bail and roll
Yeah but the main way you shed speed after running and falling is either by slapping straight to ground or by sliding chest/face first right? I’m saying we should roll instead of attempting to run
One dudes’s opinion on rolling out of fast Esk8 falls:
I have no idea whether he is right but he is funny and may have a point.
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skill issue
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most of my most recent falls have been due to electronics failure. ESCs blowing up or remotes doing terrible things. one time I didn’t give the motor wires enough slack and they unplugged and shorted on the heatsink while riding. That was a lot of skin.
the fast end of my comfort zone is between 25 and 30 mph. I’ve been able to take a roll at 25 without breaking anything but not without losing skin. My helmet has saved my head so many times I can’t count, but I have learned the hard way to never ever pin yp your hair under your helmet using metal spiral bobbie pins. I have a gouge in my skull now.
also falling shirtless is for masochists. having done it both ways, I prefer falling with a shirt on.
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It’s genuinely unreal what a low speed crash can do to bare skin, and how much difference a thin T shirt can make to that.
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What about falling with shoes on
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That is also better than falling without shoes on in my experience.
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Fractured Humerus with radial nerve:
Poorly kept roads, caved in section caught my DKP trucks
Fractured Clavicle (now my shoulder has a zigzag):
Urethane wheels on wet leaves
Twisted both ankles simultaneously:
DKP trucks while trying to avoid a stupid driver
Crushed middle finger and slight loss of motion:
eScooter folding stem
Split open chin, needed plastic surgery:
A tiny pebble while analog longboarding
The lessons I’ve learned are don’t use scooters or DKPs and keep thane for super dry days.
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Lol thanks for the link, this is fun. Not exactly academically rigorous but definitely entertaining, especially on 1.75x speed
He’s not wrong about hurting whatever you land on (see my elbow above) but I rolled a good distance, didn’t break anything, and didn’t force a joint somewhere it doesn’t want to go like obliterating a wrist
I’ve managed to run off a few bails without falling at all, or only falling at the very end when I was almost completely stopped. had my dog on my chest and her extra weight made me loose balance at the very end. Didn’t even get any scrapes/burns for that fall
Rolling at a speed at or bellow 25mph just can put you at further risk depending on where you are riding. In that video, the guy could have been run over by the other skater, or hit his head on that curb. If I had to bail and roll in the street, I’d end up rolling directly into oncoming traffic which isn’t ideal for anyone who rides with the left leg in the back.
I think both methods have their uses though and it isn’t that hard to decide which one to use in a split second. Just think about all the other decisions you have to make in less than a second when skating if you think you wouldn’t have time to decide.
Technically, yes, but you don’t learn to ride in wet without loosing some skin first 
unless you buy and use pads then maybe you don’t need to loose skin
A lot of people here have flopped over from belt drag after accelleration when they’re new to a board.
Flicked my throttle clipping up my helmet and broke my wrist recently. Was wearing flatland gloves too.
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All of my falls have been from stupidity.
- Went too fast on a single motor setup that was meant for crazy carving (switch-it up build)
- Went too fast on a channel truck setup for a heavier rider than me (Bao’s flux)
- Carving too hard on a urethane board (Domino’s board)
- Let go of the throttle after full-throttle accelerating on Jackon’s 20s board
- Drove over a pile of gravel on a urethane board (Brother’s black board)
- Drove over black ice on my mountainboard
- Saw my friend fall and then braked too hard myself (The Prince)
Rule of thumb: Don’t go fast unless you have perfect visibility of the road, and have ridden it before.
That being said, I’ve experienced flat tires mid-ride, motor lockups, sensorless motor spazzing, broken gears, snapped belts, pulleys disassembling, motor magnets breaking, etc. I’ve been lucky enough to survive those events thanks to luck / skill, but I ride knowing that any point something like that could happen while I’m going fast. I always wear gloves and a helmet, and try to limit my speed unless I see that I have enough space in front of me to fall and slide without hitting anything 
This hobby is dangerous, and likely always will be I’m afraid. Kevlar jackets are amazing tho
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Pinecone
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On a more serious note
Piling onto the “my own stupidity” of riding a 3d printed part far longer than I should’ve…
Forgot one common mistake that I made way too many times: leaving my remote in reverse, getting on and bracing to go forward, then immediately falling on my ass No real significant injury occurred other than the mental damage of having people see it happen.
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I’ve nosedived a few times on my onewheel pint, hit potholes, rocks, roots under the grass, and a variety of seen and unseen obstacles that have lead to me crashing. I’ve also ran over the bottom of a constuction/pop up road sign at around 25 mph, which was not a super fun fall. I’ve slid on wet pavement a couple of times, and of course recently got hit by a car, though that did way more damage to my board than me. Moral of the story is ALWAYS wear your helmet, preferably a full face. Kevlar padded jackets are amazing, and have saved me from countless injuries as well. Always ride within your comfort level and be safe around other users of roads and bikepaths. I’ve found that pedestrains in particular are very unpredictable, so I always go walking speed when passing one. Most importantly, HAVE FUN!
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