Gloves for Riding Scooters and Mopeds in City Traffic

Wear real riding gloves on a scooter or moped, even for a short city hop. In a US emergency-department sample of adult moped riders, almost two-thirds of the crashes happened at 20 mph (32 km/h) or less, and the most common type was a crash with no other vehicle involved. City speeds are low, but riders still fall, and a short cuff or a gauntlet is a choice about heat and sleeves more than about speed.

Part of our motorcycle glove buying guide. For the wider picture of what a glove has to do, see motorcycle glove safety and standards.

Key takeaways- Most injuries to moped riders in one trauma-center study were to the arms, legs or pelvis (62.2%).- Short cuffs stop at the wrist and suit hot-weather commuting; gauntlets cover the wrist and part of the forearm.- Mesh and light textile gloves trade protection for airflow, one glove maker says.- We found no study of hand injuries in scooter riders alone, so nothing here is a hand-specific injury figure.

What city speeds change, and what they do not

The numbers come from the moped riders who ended up in hospital, so they describe crashes that hurt, not every wobble. In that US sample of adult moped riders (2002-2014), 60% of crashes had no collision, and skin and musculoskeletal injuries were the most common diagnoses. The abstract does not say which body part, so it does not tell you how often hands were hurt.

A second study compared 356 moped riders with motorcyclists and cyclists at one trauma center. Injuries to the extremities or pelvic girdle made up 62.2% of all injuries, whatever the vehicle. Only 34% of the moped riders wore helmets, against 85% of the motorcyclists, and the authors urge counseling on helmets and protective equipment for moped riders.

Neither study measures how far a hand slides in a low-speed fall, so we give no distance. For motorcyclists, a study of 212 crashed riders found those wearing gloves were significantly less likely to be admitted to hospital (relative risk 0.41). That study covers motorcyclists, not scooter riders, and it shows an association, not a cause.

Short cuff, semi-gauntlet or gauntlet?

The cuff also decides how the glove meets your sleeve. One store page tells riders to decide between a classic and a short cuff because the cuff changes how the glove meets the sleeve. A short or narrow gauntlet can stop the glove being pulled securely onto the hand, one reviewer says. For the over-or-under question and wind gaps, our sister site covers gloves over or under the jacket sleeve.

For the full cuff comparison, read gauntlet vs wristlet gloves and the glove styles and cuffs guide. If you want to know what a short cuff gives up at the wrist, scaphoid fractures and gloves explains the limits of wrist protection.

Leather, textile or mesh for stop-and-go heat

One glove maker's scooter guide says leather is durable and abrasion resistant and suits riders who put protection ahead of ventilation. Textile is more breathable and flexible, and mesh suits riders who want airflow over protection. That is a maker's view with no test data.

A glove maker that sells deerskin suggests it for city commutes and shorter rides because it is lighter and more elastic, and elkskin for long routes. Leather types are compared in deerskin vs lambskin gloves, and the thickness trade-off is in heavy leather vs light leather gloves.

Vents on the back of the hand aid cooling, one road-safety council says.

Checks before you buy

1. Fit. The glove should feel snug around palm and fingers with no bunching. Your fingers should curl around the grips without pinching.
2. Palm and knuckles. Look for reinforcement at the palm and knuckles. See palm sliders on motorcycle gloves.
3. Closure. A road-safety council says gloves need a wrist strap or other way to lock them on the wrist, and you can test it by having someone try to pull the glove off. Closure failures are covered in where riding gloves fail in a slide.
4. Label. EN 13594 is the standard written for motorcyclists' gloves. A store guide says to look for the standard number plus the level, and to ask the seller for test documents if the listing does not state them.
5. Wear. Commuter gloves wear faster. Use the wear checklist for the palm and seam checks.

Which cuff for which commute

• Short hops in warm weather: a short cuff or vented glove, with a closure that locks.
• Daily rides in rain and cold: a longer cuff to keep air and water out of the sleeve.
• Faster roads on your route: the 20 mph figure no longer describes you, so give more weight to the closure and palm checks above.

For gloves compared by cuff type, see best short-cuff motorcycle gloves.

Where to look

If you want to see short-cuff leather styles, the motorcycle gloves at Leather Collection include pairs that stop at the wrist. The store says to read each product page if protection matters, and its gloves are made to order in standard sizes.

FAQ

Do scooter riders need gloves?

Hands are among the first things to meet the road in a fall, and extremity injuries were the most common type in a moped-rider study. Authors of that study urge protective equipment for moped riders. For more, read why motorcyclists wear gloves.

Are short-cuff gloves enough for the city?

A short cuff covers the hand up to the wrist and is lighter and cooler. A gauntlet adds the wrist and part of the forearm. No source we read tests either on a scooter, so choose by heat, sleeve fit and how the glove locks on.