The Ryobi walk behind mowers are direct drive and everything is underneath the deck so there isn’t much that can go wrong that you wouldn’t contend with if you were standing with your toes next to it except you are actually riding it. The wheels still do have a short belt and a tensioner but not the really long belt with the clutch pulley. The only safety thing I could have added is the electronic brake on the deck motors but for my use I am not super concerned about letting things slow down unassisted. As soon as I leave the seat everything shuts off and the light blades don’t actually have a ton of momentum without power.