There are attorneys who specialize in product liability negligence. This form of Product liability occurs when a supplier sells a product with inaccurate or inadequate labeling. While product liability negligence claims are usually complex and challenging to prove from a legal standpoint, I feel that InMotion is going out of their way to make it easier for these attorneys with the introduction of the V11 Electric Unicycle.
CONSUMER DIRECT
InMotion ships the V11 directly to your home. BEFORE you take delivery (or order one), watch their how-to video. It might change your mind about the practicality and safety of operating this vehicle. There is one customer comment who is stoked that after two weeks of practicing 30 minutes a day, he has made it 150 feet! Another says, “It’s been 3 months. Still I cannot ride my V5. Can you make also training wheels?”
I wish the instructor set a better example for beginners (he does not wear a helmet, pads or gloves and cars and trucks drive past where he picked to practice). His claim that learning to ride a V11 is as easy as learning to ride a bicycle is a stretch. Most beginners can learn to bicycle in less than a week and bicycles are not capable of 30 miles per hour unless you are a Tour de France racer. Yep, you read that right. Thirty one miles per hour is the claimed top speed of the V11. What could possibly go wrong?
DRESS FOR IMPACT
InMotion does sell protective equipment but you have to scroll to the bottom of the accessory page to find them. I commend InMotion for showing most of their riders wearing helmets and many of them in knee, shin and shoulder pads. That’s not a bad idea for a unicycle with a claimed top speed of over 30 miles per hour.
PRODUCT LIABILITY
There may be a detailed safety manual that comes with every V11, but that seems a little late for a customer who already plunked down $2000. The company’s website (that serves as their dealership) should have recommendations for operator age range, what precautions to take during operation, where to find out how to legally operate the product and what basic safety gear should be worn.
Better yet, stop selling these things with such an insanely high top speed. The 30-mile-per-hour top speed is too slow to mix with automobile traffic and way too fast to mix with e-bikes, bicycles and pedestrians on bike paths or bike lanes. Many European companies have 15-mile-per-hour speed shut offs for e-bikes. That seems like a far more reasonable top speed for a unicycle.
I don’t believe this is the fun and easy-to-operate vehicle that the company’s website makes it out to be. As always, buyer beware.