...or not to segway. [with poll]

Before anyone mentions “Segway founder\inventor died”, etc…
Dean Kamen the piss-drinker is still alive and well.

Jimi Heselden was neither founder nor inventor, he just owned the European distribution rights and had bought the company about six months prior to riding the ‘all terrain’ model backwards off a 13m cliff.

Also, I don’t care about the machines, Segway riders are a menace and should be regulated out of existence.

alaninoz said :

I don’t care to vote for any of the options. I have nothing for or against the Segway, or the company trying to hire them out. What I am strongly against, though, is modifying the ACT road rules to benefit one company – any company. If, after due deliberation, the ACT Government concludes that the ACT road rules need to be changed to allow use of the Segway, then fine. Otherwise stiff bikkies.

What sort of a Luddite are you?

If our laws didn’t keep up with technological innovation we might as well all be Amish.

Supercharged motor cars were banned until the motor industry did something about it for example…

What sort of a shit fight will there be when jet back packs are perfected for everyday use?

gooterz said :

But the problem with having a big motor is that it would allow you in theory to go pretty fast and is dangerious

In theory, yes. But the normal models are limited to 20km/h, while these ones are reportedly limited to 12km/h.
Worth noting the founder of the company who bought Segway in 2010 died after riding one into a river later the same year. Check out YouTube and there’s heaps of videos of people coming off these things.
That said, they’re no more dangerous than a bike so not sure the point of banning them.

Conversely though, you’d have to be pretty lazy to use one. Are we so lazy now?

The problem with them is that they need a high powered motor to keep you balanced. Not for speed. The motor needs to be pretty decent for the control system to work, when you start falling it needs to be able to lift you up pretty quickly a small motor wouldnt cut it.

But the problem with having a big motor is that it would allow you in theory to go pretty fast and is dangerious, but i’m sure its fitted with some kind of speed limitor so the motor isnt doing all the work to move you and having nothing left to do the job of keeping you balanced.

I’d rather the government pick a safe speed for this after testing it rather than just ban it on its motor power. Then get all the segways programmed to operate at that speed at a maximum. Maybe less if they are near a lake

What I want to know is how a segway can do a burnout with only two wheels… Crazy stuff…

I don’t care to vote for any of the options. I have nothing for or against the Segway, or the company trying to hire them out. What I am strongly against, though, is modifying the ACT road rules to benefit one company – any company. If, after due deliberation, the ACT Government concludes that the ACT road rules need to be changed to allow use of the Segway, then fine. Otherwise stiff bikkies.

I guarantee that I can reach a much higher speed on a pushbike, than I ever could on a segway, and that the result of me hitting a pedestrian on that bike would be far nastier.

They could just remove the restriction on any electric vehicle under, say 100kgs ( what does a segway weigh?).

Sure there would be some people on electric mopeds, but is that really any more dangerous then a car? Mmmmm, having trouble figuring out how to fit nice modern technology into archaic classifications of vehicles.

Can someone explain to me why this is an issue? They look fun. Canberra needs fun. Bring them in.

Debacle is the right word; surely it’s only a matter of (not much) time before the legislature catches up with the real world. These things are no more danger than a pushbike, they’re a good way to get around for touristing or commuting, and they’re a bit of fun.
I put the kids on one (each) for a tour of Currumbin Sanctuary and they had a blast.