# You never see just one person on a Segway . . . **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 31, 2012, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-never-see-just-one-person-on-a-segway/617418 "2012-03-31T22:11:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Neidhart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Neidhart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neidhart)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2012, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-never-see-just-one-person-on-a-segway/617418/1 "2012-03-31T22:11:21Z")
unless he’s a security guard. Just something that came to my mind today. Whenever I see somebody riding a Segway who isn’t wearing a security guard’s uniform, he will invariably be followed by a bunch of other people on Segways; I guess tour companies rent them. Doesn’t anybody just own one and use it to buzz around the neighborhood as Dean Kamen intended? ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2012, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-never-see-just-one-person-on-a-segway/617418/2 "2012-04-01T01:44:14Z")
My father did that, it was easier for him when running short errands than going in the car. He got to the point in his later years where he couldn’t walk very well, but he could stand just fine. He had the first generation model, where you would lean forward to go and then back to slow down and stop, and I think lean to the left or right to turn. He could hold onto the handle and lean his whole body, and he loved it. He could take it into the grocery store or the pharmacy with no problem, and I guess he became something of a fixture in his neighborhood. Later on his first model started acting up, so he got a second-generation model, where instead of leaning you push your arms in the direction you want to go (if I understood correctly; I never tried to ride that one). He couldn’t get the hang of it and kept falling off. By then he was too weak to get up, so he kept having to call EMS. He said he got to know them by their first names. He isn’t around any more, though, it’s been 2-1/2 years since he died. Roddy ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2012, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-never-see-just-one-person-on-a-segway/617418/3 "2012-04-01T02:45:20Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > He isn’t around any more, though, it’s been 2-1/2 years since he died. > Roddy And thus ended society’s brief experimentation with the Segway. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2012, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-never-see-just-one-person-on-a-segway/617418/4 "2012-04-01T03:34:04Z")
I see gaggles of tourists on them in DC, they do “walking” tours on them. ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2012, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-never-see-just-one-person-on-a-segway/617418/5 "2012-04-01T03:40:31Z")
I occasionally see someone in San Francisco using a Segway as personal transportation. It is still unusual enough to stand out – sort of like that one guy in my neighborhood who used to drive a Hummer. ---
**Author:** ![Neidhart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Neidhart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neidhart)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2012, 11:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-never-see-just-one-person-on-a-segway/617418/6 "2012-04-01T11:00:20Z")
DC is where I see the groups too. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2012, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-never-see-just-one-person-on-a-segway/617418/7 "2012-04-01T11:17:58Z")
I’ve seen them in Chicago, too. ---
**Author:** ![velvetjones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/5f9b8f/32.png) [@velvetjones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/velvetjones)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2012, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-never-see-just-one-person-on-a-segway/617418/8 "2012-04-01T11:38:23Z")
In Orlando, in the gigantic convention hotels, I used to see people, presumably hotel management (guy in a suit and tie) on Segways inside the hotel. I guess it was the fastest way to get from one side to the other of a hotel that covers the area of several football fields. ---
**Author:** ![Pitchmeister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pitchmeister/32/3459_2.png) [@Pitchmeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pitchmeister)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2012, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-never-see-just-one-person-on-a-segway/617418/9 "2012-04-01T11:53:00Z")
Wouldn’t it be kind of hard to navigate them in an urban environment? I’ve never been on one, but it seems to me that even the lightest elevated curb would present an insurmountable barrier. Plus, they look really dorky. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2012, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-never-see-just-one-person-on-a-segway/617418/10 "2012-04-01T12:51:39Z")
I’ve never even seen one in real life. ---
**Author:** ![chrisk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@chrisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisk)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2012, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-never-see-just-one-person-on-a-segway/617418/11 "2012-04-01T13:07:39Z")
> [@Khadaji](#): > > I’ve never even seen one in real life. Neither have I. When I saw the thread title, I was thinking that the OP was talking about seeing more than one person on a single Segway, not several people each on their own Segway. 😉 So I was all :eek:😕 _Isn’t that the point of a Segway?_ and imagining one person piggybacking on another riding the Segway… That gave me a bigger laugh than the forum titles this morning! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2012, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-never-see-just-one-person-on-a-segway/617418/12 "2012-04-01T13:18:10Z")
I’ve gone on tours of Old San Juan, Tucson, and Hollywood on them. They’re a LOT of fun. I considered buying one just to zip around my property (about 60+ acres of woods and trails and fields) but decided the last thing I needed was to get even less exercise. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2012, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-never-see-just-one-person-on-a-segway/617418/13 "2012-04-01T13:29:34Z")
It depends on the setting for me. In a downtown area, they are tour groups or security folk (who for some reason like to ride together). In the 'burbs, it’s solo folk. E.g., door-to-door people, especially minor candidates at election time. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2012, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-never-see-just-one-person-on-a-segway/617418/14 "2012-04-01T13:30:25Z")
I always thought they would be a good option as a golf cart substitute. But I have never seen one used by a player. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2012, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-never-see-just-one-person-on-a-segway/617418/15 "2012-04-01T13:30:38Z")
In Charlotte, I would say I see group tours on them about once or twice a week; I see cops and security guards on them every now and then - maybe once or twice per month; I see non-security individuals riding them alone occasionally - I just saw one about 3 or 4 days ago, but I doubt I see it more than once a month. I live downtown and walk everywhere, so I would say that the frequency of my observations is likely to represent their usage (ie, I have a large sample size). ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2012, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-never-see-just-one-person-on-a-segway/617418/16 "2012-04-01T14:21:01Z")
I have to post this: [Gang Of Virgins Terrorizes Town](http://cheezburger.com/1961241856). Pretty much brought my days of taking Segways seriously to a quick end. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2012, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-never-see-just-one-person-on-a-segway/617418/17 "2012-04-01T14:24:12Z")
They’re very expensive, which is an obvious barrier to their adoption, and as they’re also very heavy - 80 pounds, which makes them heavy enough that a person really shouldn’t lift one alone - they’re unsuitable for the elderly or anyone else who can’t safely pick up something really heavy. It’s unlikely you’d NEVER have to pick it up, after all. ---
**Author:** ![Alan\_Smithee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2acd7d/32.png) [@Alan\_Smithee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alan_Smithee)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2012, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-never-see-just-one-person-on-a-segway/617418/18 "2012-04-01T14:57:20Z")
I’ve been on a Segway twice, both when visiting San Francisco. The first time as part of a tour group, and the second time (yesterday!) with just my sister and dad zipping around Golden Gate Park on rentals. They are _incredibly_ fun, but clearly impractical for all but a few purposes (the ones they’re actually used for). They are also a bizzarre combination of absolutely brilliant ergonomics and engineering and ridiculously bad design. For one thing, they are impossible to park without something to lean against, and will actually run away from you if left on and improperly parked with no one on. That seems like a serious danger and liability issue that would have been extremely trivial to solve, given that it must already have weight sensors of some sort in order function. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2012, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-never-see-just-one-person-on-a-segway/617418/19 "2012-04-01T16:26:53Z")
> [@Alan\_Smithee](#): > > … That seems like a serious danger and liability issue that would have been extremely trivial to solve, given that it must already have weight sensors of some sort in order function. Yeah, but if it requires a human weight in it to operate, how can you strap your cat to it and send it careening all around the yard? ---
**Author:** ![leahcim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b4bc9f/32.png) [@leahcim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leahcim)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2012, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-never-see-just-one-person-on-a-segway/617418/20 "2012-04-01T16:34:11Z")
> [@notfrommensa](#): > > I always thought they would be a good option as a golf cart substitute. But I have never seen one used by a player. Wouldn’t it be a pain to carry a bag of clubs on one of those? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-never-see-just-one-person-on-a-segway/617418.md?page=2)