EnlightenmentFan's Journal: The Segway, coming to a sidewalk near you.

The Register says there are now Segways on sale. Rush in your $495 deposit (toward the $4950 purchase price) to Amazon.com, the only place currently selling them.

So far, with no fanfare, legislators in 32 states have declared the Segway welcome on local sidewalks. New Jersey, for example, is paying an unexpected price for its hasty cave-in, says this article at NorthJersey.com. Segway lobbyists pushed through a state law that prohibits towns from banning any "electric personal assistive mobility devices.'' According to the story, that law " was passed after Segway, maker of the "Human Transporter,'' lobbied New Jersey's Legislature and others throughout the country." As a result, New Jersey towns have been unable to deal with the latest fad among local teenagers, electric scooters, which they ride on the sidewalks.

Note that the scooters now terrorizing North Jersey pedestrians are not "assistive devices" that deserve protection by the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act)--neither is the Segway. These are vehicles you have to stand up on to drive. But affluent parents who bought these toys for their teens are calling on the protection of the ADA to keep them on the sidewalks and out of traffic. We can expect to see the same with the Segway.

San Francisco plans to fight back, according to this Examiner article. Senior-citizen activists and walkers protested they don't want to share their space with a 95 lb machine traveling 12 mph. "The whole point of sidewalks is to separate vehicles from pedestrians," says Walk San Francisco director Michael Smith.

IMO, the Segway is a pyramid scheme waiting to tumble. Early investors put up the cash for a massive publicity and lobbying campaign. They now have until March to lure unsuspecting buyers to buy their Segways, and unsuspecting investors to buy their stock.

In March it's all over. Once Segways hit the sidewalks, the pyramid crumbles. Whoever has money in Segways in March will take the hits for liability claims that already have class-action lawyers licking their chops. State legislators will quickly rescind Segway laws, and Segway owners will be riding their white elephants in the street--if they feel like admitting they own this year's version of Edsel.

I still don't see the point

[bsharitt]

I just don't get why people would want to use these things. They're not that fast. Are people really getting so lazy that they can't walk down the street.

I've been vindicated!

[Interrobang]

I remember when these first started getting noised about, my SO was all eager and excited, "Oh, boy! I want one so I can take it to Pennsic [pennsicwar.org] and use it to help me get around!" (Notwithstanding that the point of Pennsic is to do things as medievally as possible, which includes a lot of walking and no Segways.) Hey, I'm handicapped too, and I think these things sound like a waste of time and money, and I don't want one. I get annoyed enough with people who ride adult-sized bicycles down the sidewalk (what with the way people drive in my hometown [slashdot.org], there's practically no place to walk as it is), let alone contributing to the problem myself.

I also remember when all the grandiose hype was coming out about an invention that would "revolutionize transportation" or somesuch. (Does the inventor live in California, or somewhere where it never snows?!) I can pretty much tell you that a Segway would be practically useless from roughly November to May where I live. I don't imagine that the thing is built tough enough to deal with Canadian-strength snowfalls, ice, and slush...or that the average Segway-user would like to whiz along at 20kph when it's -10 outside...

Now I find out that these things cost more than a half-decent used car... $5000 will buy me an awful lot of bus passes. Thank you! I feel vindicated.