Tory proposes street-legal Segway legalisation
MP calls for 'personal transporters' to allowed on UK roads
The Segway personal transporter should be allowed to be ridden on UK roads, a Conservative transport spokesman has said.
Should Segways be allowed onto UK roads?
According to a report by the BBC, Robert Goodwill, MP for Scarborough and Whitby, has urged ministers to rethink the vehicle’s classification. Currently, the Segway is only permitted to be used on private land.
Not all members of the public appear to know this. Only yesterday, one of Register Hardware’s roving reporters spotted one of the two-wheeled machines being ‘driven’ up London's Regent Street.
Goodwill said that a limited Segway trial should be run to “see what lessons can be learned”. How not to get in the way of pedestrians, perhaps...
Initially, he is pushing for permission to use the two-wheelers in cycle lanes. But what do you do if a road’s cycle lane suddenly ends? Get off and walk?
A Segway would definitely be a great way to zip through the rush-hour traffic, while eco-worriers would surely welcome its negligible carbon emissions. But, is the Segway just an indoor travel tool gone too far? Are they safe enough to use on UK roads?
It’s worth remembering that, in 2006, Segway suffered an embarrassing set-back when the manufacturer had to ask customers to return their “personal transporters” for an essential software update. The reason? Well, it was discovered that the two wheeler could unexpectedly reverse the direction of the wheels and cause the rider to fall off.
COMMENTS
Segway Practicality
I have been commuting to work on my Segway here in Essex every day for 3 years. The only time I don't use the Segway is when it is raining hard and to be honest out of a whole month this would only be an issue about 2 or 3 times. I have found the latest i2 Segway to be far safer and more practical for uneven pavements than my previous i-180 model and to date I have not had one incident. The only thing I feel the Government should do if Segways are officially made legal is that every body has to pass a formal test to ride one to ensure the safety of other road or pavement users. I noticed that some of you commented on the lack of exercise created by using a Segway, well lets face it people use their cars for silly journeys to pop down the shops that they could easily walk to now but they don’t so using a Segway is no different and a least you are getting the equivalent of 650 mpg in equivalent CO2 emissions. I personally feel that Segways are a useful and practical support mechanism to our over crowed roads and should be used in combination with other new technologies.
Good grief
I am shocked at how many oppressive nanny-state loving bigots there are posting here. What's with this urge to ban, prohibit, prevent and generally encourage the control-freakery that is prevalent in local and national government these days, hysterically demanding more and more legislation as some kind of panacea? How depressing.
@Jon Biddell
Fail.
Unfortunately that's not what your invigilator said at the end of your test for a driving licence. You know. The licence you have to earn in order to gain the right to take a car onto the road.
Can't speak about Aus, but in the UK at least, post 1936, the public highways have been funded out of general taxation. The vehicle licence fee does not come close to covering highways expenditure. And the effect of cyclists on road wear and tear is effectively infinitesimal compared to the axle weights of motorised vehicles.
So in effect, non car owners are subsidising the roads network. No need to thank me. Maybe have a go at HGV drivers next tim, eh? They're the ones who don't pay their way, based on axle weight and road damage caused. Plus, they are far and away the major source of M-way hold-ups with their audacious +1mph overtaking manoeuvres.
NB: I note you quoted incorrectly, by omitting
@Jon Biddell (2)
</gremlin>
NB: I note you quoted incorrectly, choosing to claim a quote of "my part of the road rather than the correct ""my" part of the road."
Those quote marks around 'my' were there for a reason...
How...
...are pedestrians, who have been gradually giving over more and more street space to motorised vehicles for more than a century, supposed to cope with a fairly large and heavy object almost certainly driven by an idiot moving at twice their speed along the same pavement?
I realise that I am actually making a huge assumption that anyone who wants to ride/drive/be laughed at in control of a Segway is an idiot. But I think I'm on solid ground. Suspect they are the same demographic as buying the WiiFit.
