Replacing the Jeep Grand Cherokee (Score 1)

My best friend drives a Jeep Grand Cherokee 2 miles from her apartment in midtown Richmond to her job in downtown Richmond every day, despite the fact that there are both bike lanes and a bus route from her door to her place of employment.

She does this because, as a woman, she would not feel safe on a bus or a bike, and because she has an American's sense of entitlement to her vehicle, no matter how inefficient and inconvenient it happens to be.

I would buy a Segway tomorrow if I could, even at $3,000. Widescale adoption - even by urban dwellers alone - would

1. Reverse urban decay by making cities more attractive places to live, not just work
2. Allow more businesses and services to fit into smaller spaces by eliminating parking lots and wide streets, easing the sprawl of strip malls and housing tracks into some of our nation's best farmland
3. Reduce environmental pollution and excessive use of fossil-fuels.

Unfortunately most Americans think like my best friend, not like me. However, radical change could occur if early adoption of the Segway forms a symbiotic relationship with an American push to reduce our dependence on foreign oil imports. Current events in the Middle East may be the best sales pitch the Segway has, especially for Americans to whom patriotism means more than environmentalism.