What ever Happened to the Segway (transportation vehicle)?

[Count_Blucher]

@pbbth

Then I saw pictures of Snookie riding a segway while pregnant and thought, “No, it is better that I didn’t have access to one of those. That looks ridiculous.”

Well, it definitely needed a sound effect.

(double spoilered to avoid breaking link. NSFW)

That was the first spoiler. May Og Have Mercy On Your Soul…

http://bit.ly/18PsmAJ

[mack]

@Aquadementia

Basically, they are in competition with the unicycle market. Both are the least practical mode of transportation, chosen only for a certain level of hipster coolness.

For anyone with mobility problems, they will most likely want something with a seat like those scooters you see advertised during the evening news.

Everyone else that would feel stupid on one of those mobility scooters, because able bodied people just don’t go around in wheel chairs, would be better served by a bicycle.

I’ve never seen anyone even attempt to be hip or cool on a segway. I did see one guy zipping around on one when they first came out. Being that the walking i did was about all the exercise i got, to use a segway would deprive me even of that. Plus the whole too big and fast for the sidewalk and too slow for the street thing. The hipster mode of transportation lately is the fixed-gear track bike (plus a cap but not a helmet, and long-legged shorts but not tight bike shorts).

[TriPolar]

When they make a flying version they’ll have something.

[kferr]

They’re effective banned in the UK since they’re not allowed on the pavement/sidewalk nor the roads.

[CalMeacham]

@Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus

IIRC their private use was banned just about everywhere shortly after their introduction. They were made illegal on roads and sidewalks, though there must be exceptions for specific people and specific reasons. Had they been allowed on some roads they might have made inroads into the scooter market.

With regard to mall cops I can see how being a few inches off the ground might significantly improve their ability to see what’s going on around the open areas of the mall.

I’d like to see a cite for that “private use was banned just about everywhere”, since that’s really the crucial issue. Although i heard of some places discussing banning them, I’m not aware of any actual bans in the US, and certainly not of a widespread ban.

As I said, I’ve met one provate Segway rider. If she was banned from using it in Salem (hard to believe, with two Segway tour companies operating there), she’d be pissed, considering the cost of these devices.

[Aquadementia]

And then they give you a reason to actually resent them because of the kiss-ass laws passed specifically to make them legal where similar motorized vehicles wouldn’t be.

@state legislation

“Electric personal assistive mobility
device” means a self−balancing, 2−nontandem−wheeled
device that is designed to transport only one person and
which has an electric propulsion system that limits the
maximum speed of the device to 15 miles per hour or less.

They may as well designate that it must have been purchased through a a certified Segway dealer… and be a Segway!

@mack

I’ve never seen anyone even attempt to be hip or cool on a segway. I did see one guy zipping around on one when they first came out. Being that the walking i did was about all the exercise i got, to use a segway would deprive me even of that. Plus the whole too big and fast for the sidewalk and too slow for the street thing. The hipster mode of transportation lately is the fixed-gear track bike (plus a cap but not a helmet, and long-legged shorts but not tight bike shorts).

Ok, I don’t know if hipster court ruled it cool. I think there is a almost cool lameness about the thing.

Of course the lamest thing is that its speed is limited.

[even_sven]

I saw a guy in a suit cruising through my neighborhood on one the other day.

Honestly, they would be a good fit for me- my usual commute is around 3-5 miles. But they are way to expensive for something that seems logistically difficult to park, and doesn’t save me much time over the subway.

[Lynn_Bodoni]

@Princhester

I think the price tag and illegality is the big thing.

People say they are a solution in search of a problem but if you could ride one everywhere and they were cheap I think plenty of lazy people, or people who need to get somewhere in the “mile or two” range quickly would have adopted them.

I live in the inner city and personally I’m very bike based but in a hot climate you have to dress a certain way for biking, and even then it only takes a 10 minute ride in mid summer and you will turn up at your destination sweaty and unkempt. There are plenty of times when there are local errands to run which I’d like to get done at faster than walking pace, but don’t need driving pace and don’t want the hassle of trying to find somewhere to park.

They have just been made legal here and all the usual suspects are in the middle of the usual technophobic panic that comes with such things.

Do they have any sort of baskets available? When I rode a bike, one of the things I liked about it was that I had a basket or two on it, and it’s a heck of a lot easier to run errands if you have a basket. If it doesn’t at least come with an option to put a basket on it, I’m not seeing the advantage that a Segway has over a bike, a moped, or something similar.

[CalMeacham]

@Lynn_Bodoni

Do they have any sort of baskets available? When I rode a bike, one of the things I liked about it was that I had a basket or two on it, and it’s a heck of a lot easier to run errands if you have a basket. If it doesn’t at least come with an option to put a basket on it, I’m not seeing the advantage that a Segway has over a bike, a moped, or something similar.

They can have them istalled. I think some of the security ones I’ve seen had sealed compartments. The private owner I mention above had baskets installed on hers.