A 38-year-old chiropractor, who was on his way to East Coast Park from his Tanjong Rhu Road home on an electric skateboard, died after he fell at the Green Connecting Bridge along East Coast Park Service Road near Fort Road. Mr Matthieu Thomas Maugueret, a French national, had got the device four days before the accident.
Not sure if this was posted previously but it’s the first time I heard of it. Shout out to @mostwanted for sending this to my attention and for bringing more safety awareness to the Singapore ESK8 FB group. As most of you already know I’ve been a pretty big proponent for helmet safety ever since my friend’s traumatic brain injury which I explain in detail on this thread. The death in Singapore is eerily familiar to the way my buddy crashed but luckily he dodged a bullet and is just about fully recovered. Together, we’re working on a short documentary about the experience along with pretty graphic footage of the actual crash. The goal is to bring more safety awareness to ESK8 because their seems to some irresponsibility amongst the mainstream companies that de-emphasize the safety factor to mostly inexperienced riders in order to emphasize the “coolness”. Remember this Inboard video?
This thread isn’t an attack on any company or specific parts but I feel like Mr. Maugueret’s death should hold some meaning for us as ambassadors of ESK8. Like many others here I get asked by random folks to build them a powerful machine. If I can’t immediately measure their riding or DIY experience I flat out refuse because it’s like a moral obligation to prevent them from hurting themselves. So where do we draw the line? I would guess there’s a lot more non skaters/longboarders entering ESK8 than experienced ones.
Here’s a few takeaways I got from the article:
He was not wearing a helmet (back of his head hit the pavement, TBI, never regained consciousness)
He was riding at 11:45pm
He was riding an Evolve Carbon 2-in-1
Electric skateboards have been ubiquitous on roads in Singapore
The skateboard’s previous owner had found it hard to execute turns and was also concerned about the absence of a feature to allow sudden braking
I don’t agree that the Evolves are hard to turn, I think their willingness to turn at speed is one of its bigger criticisms.
I do completely agree that for as fast as the board gets going, the brakes are not a sufficient pairing.
This story hits especially close to home as I had a very bad fall on an Evolve Carbon. I also smacked my head (no helmet) against the concrete along a bike path. I had hit a patch of sand going around a corner and couldn’t save it. Fortunately, I got lucky. I made it with only a trip to urgent care and gluing (liquid stitches) the skin on my head together.
I’ve had a few close calls as well but since witnessing my friend’s accident, I never ride without a helmet - and different helmets for every occasion. Here in Michigan there’s a predominant culture of non helmet riding especially amongst bicyclists and motorcyclists. I’ll see entire families riding with no helmets and I just shake my head. If I see friends or family casually disregarding safety I speak up about it and never take a passive approach anymore. That’s what got my friend hurt and I won’t ever let that happen again if I can help it.
This should’ve never happened. Sincere condoleances.
But to be honest, i was expecting a message like this sooner, seeing all these people go full speed on boosted boards on busy traffic roads without any protective gear (wanting to be like Casey Neistat in NY i guess), i always worry. Accidents only take a split sec to happen if you loose your balance at higher speeds and on a skateboard that means zero control. I’ve never ridden without a helmet and i’m never going to. If i don’t feel like wearing a helmet, i’ll take an other type of transportation that day.
Thanks man. Although it’s a little disheartening to see how quiet this thread is. I feel like there’s plenty of folks here who can add their 2 cents and educate some of the new members about real world safety experience but all I hear is silence.
OMG, I’m building my first board and this shocks me hard. My praise to the family. Thanks @RunPlayBack for posting this. appreciate the efforts.
and I think if u want to make it ur daily commuter, It is not ab what top speed you want, It is ab how easily u can turn (maneuverability i think), and that u can brake in time.
Good on you Rik, appreciate your efforts to bring safety awareness to everyone. I used to not wear a helmet when I was riding down the street, luckily I never hurt myself. I always wear a helmet now that I have heard of these things.
We talk abt helmets, pads, gloves and body suits to keep us from harm…
But IMO safety is also abt where, when and who’s around us when we ride…
A couple of things I keep in mind when I go for a ride…
Where? On the street to hit the store? Cruising downtown LasVegas? Bike path? I think abt the time I’m riding…and how it relates back to where I’m riding…the time…Soccer mom errand time? Or Had a few drinks after work time…Tourist area? Local street with kids playing and riding bikes? What’s there conditions of the road I’ll be traveling? Soft shoulder? Homes with desert landscape? Construction area?
I guess I could go on and on…I think you get the picture
Aside from all the gear…
Safety is knowing your limits in different environments and traffic situations.
Safety is practicing…practicing to ride in public!..(you know who you are)
Agree 100% on riding defensively everywhere. This might be the New Yorker in us but I’m always assuming every vehicle is actively trying to hit me. I do a lot of sustained eye contact with any vehicle on my shoulder which most of the time puts drivers on alert. I still wave them through even if I have the right of way because I don’t trust anyone when I’m riding.
Those are both very sad and unfortunate accidents. Between this and @runplayback’s story, the theme is clear; helmets save lives. And conversely, riding without a helmet is not far from playing Russian Roulette. It may sound extreme, but these stories illustrate just how fast your life can be ended or severely altered by not taking a simple precaution. Looking back on my younger days, I had to witness a few non-fatal (but nearly) head injuries due to mountain biking without a helmet, or in one case, wearing a helmet, but not a full face helmet (downhill mtn bike crash @ 30-40mph, instant faceplant due to runoff rut). These experiences somewhat traumatized me into adopting a 100% helmet rule for biking, but still took a few more years before that extended to other activities like snowboarding and skateboarding. Took me slamming into a tree at around 20mph snowboarding, and having to ride out massive speed wobbles at 30-40mph longboarding, to wake me up. I got lucky both times, but learned my lesson, and always wear a helmet now. So, it was a no-brainer when I started eSk8ing. I’ve actually stepped up to a full face helmet and full knee, elbow & wrist pads, so I can continue to enjoy this hobby as much as possible. But, at the end of the day, all the pads and leathers in the world don’t mean shit, if you crack your head open. So, let’s all make sure to wear our helmets at a minimum, so when we do end up crashing (it will happen), we can give ourselves the best chance to stay alive to tell about it.
Stay safe & stay smart.
For all the years I’ve been skating/snowboarding, I’ve only really needed my helmet a handful of times. Thankfully I was wearing my helmet for those few times. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be here. You never know when that moment is going to come, and eventually it will.
I had a friend who drove down some streets he was not supposed to be driving on and got some large fines in the mail.
Lots of good paved stuff there.
That guy might have just wiped out on slippery humidity covering a surface. I lived in Thailand for 10 years and sometimes the surfaces would be like very slippery.
Stole that from 
