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Yes, somebody did fall off a Segway in Christopher Columbus Park
By adamg on Tue, 06/21/2011 - 8:23am
Boston Fire and Boston EMS both confirm this account that a woman sustained serious enough injuries falling off a Segway Sunday evening that she needed transportation to a local hospital:
The formerly healthy rider was just taken away on a stretcher, on a backboard, in a neckbrace, bleeding.
Spokespeople for both departments, however, did not have additional information on what might have caused the fall, around 6:20 p.m. by Joe's American Bar.
Last week, the City Council voted to severely restrict Segway use by people without disabilities in Boston, citing the potential menace to senior citizens and other pedestrians. Two days later, however, a Segway tour company operating out of the North End sued over the regulations, saying in part the council could offer no proof the two-wheeled vehicles were unsafe.
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Comments
vehicles belong in streets, not parks, sidewalks, and bike paths
Bostons sidewalks are small and narrow, and we have little parkland downtown. Segway vehicles are dangerous as this and other incidents show, the lazy people who are too fat to go on a walking tour need to get in a bus. The only rebuke that people who are pushing for these vehicles on sidewalks and parks seems to be that its a moneymaker for this company. That is a poor argument and the reason that most major cities ban them outright from sidewalks, parks and bike lanes.
No wonder our country is so obese, these people cant even go on a walking tour?
And the more of these vehicles on our sidewalks and bike paths, the fewer people who want or are able to use sidewalks for their intended purpose, walking, as they have become overrun with vehicles.
Boston is not a theme park, it is a working city, and the more difficult it is to walk around downtown because lard-ass tourists and suburbanites are driving these vehicles on our sidewalks, the more Boston will turn into Disneyland.
Calm down tough guy. I have
Calm down tough guy. I have never once seen a fat person on a segway.
unwieldy and obnoxious
Waiting in line to go on a Charles River boat ride that leaves from Cambridgeside Galleria on Sunday there was a tour group of segway riders who were visibly annoyed by those of us who were about to board the boat. That area is no place for segways... kind of made them look like a-holes. If yuppies want to ride segways, let them do it in the 'burbs where the sidewalks are wider and less crowded.
Imagine if city council were this concerned with bicycle safety
Seriously, they flip out about something that's caused ONE injury and get all "proactive", when we've averaged several FATALITIES a year for cyclists?
Hey Sal: wanna get proactive about safety for cyclists?
People WITH disabilities aren't a menace on Segways?
"Last week, the City Council voted to severely restrict Segway use by people without disabilities in Boston, citing the potential menace to senior citizens and other pedestrians."
---
Because Segways on the sidewalks are not a menace to senior citizens and other pedestrians when driven by people with disabilites. What a joke.
They could be
Also note the regulation bans even people with disabilities from riding more than two abreast.
does it also require them to "facilitate passing"?
n/t
reality check
Can you think of a disability where walking is so difficult that assistance is required, but where standing for long periods is easy-peasy? I can't. At the risk of sounding out of my element, I don't think Segways would appeal to many people with ambulatory disabilities.
It isn't up to our imagination
It is up to the person with the disability to select the most appropriate travel aid for their situation. Your not getting it or liking it or understanding it really doesn't matter. Their preference for it is paramount.
For more information, there is plenty out there about how people with various disabilities prefer segways, as they get tired of looking at everybody's arses - JFGI!
You're gonna seem really stupid
Because I already gave the very answer that negates your short-sightedness in another Segway thread on UHub today.
In short, MS fits the very disability profile that you can't come up with an answer for. So does leg amputations.
I stand corrected (and I read
I stand corrected (and I read that thread looking for an answer the day it was posted, but not two days later). I apparently also came off a lot more combative than I intended. For what it's worth, I asked because my elderly father and family members who have MORE trouble standing than walking have wondered aloud.
Sure can
In my dad's case, it's called "being 85 years old." He has no endurance for walking, but he can stand around doing nothing like a champ as long as he doesn't get his heart and respiration rates up.
Good Lord, you're obsessed
Why not go after the handicapped spaces that are on streets that otherwise don't allow parking, using the same logic... if the street is too narrow to safely allow an able-bodied person's car to park there, is it not also too narrow to allow a car with a handicapped placard to park there?
The answer, as has been explained to you in other threads on the same topic, is that Segways are not either "Dangerous" or "Safe". They pose a certain level of inconvenience and risk. We (the people, the owners of the streets, acting through our elected representatives) have decided that the inconvenience and risk is worth it if it allows an otherwise immobile person to get around, but that it is not worth it for the sole benefit of making money or having fun.
Similarly, we have determined that slightly impeding traffic on a narrow street (which does pose a risk for fire vehicle access) is worth it for the benefit of allowing the residents of an elderly housing facility to be picked up and dropped off in front of their residence, but is not worth it for the benefit of a few extra parking spaces for general use.
In the past few weeks, I've
In the past few weeks, I've noticed Segway riders starting to use the Southwest Corridor bike path. As if having to contend with strollers, dogs, and pedestrians during my commute wasn't enough of a challenge. I know motorized vehicles (like a scooter) aren't permitted on bike paths - wouldn't Segways be included?
Although I have to say it gives me some satisfaction to leave these guys in the dust. Take that, Gob.
I've also come across people on electric scooters
Electric scooter owners in general seem to think they have a right to use bike paths...no MOTORIZED vehicles, period!
phone number for DCR / southwest corridor
617-727-0057
also try the DCR: 1-866-PK-WATCH
...and the state police (911.)
Same goes for scooters, dogs who aren't on leashes, etc.
I encountered my first Segway
I encountered my first Segway on the SEC bikepath yesterday morning, right smack in the middle of a pretty dense cloud of 10 or so bikers, and it was no big deal. Ditto on the strollers, walkers, etc. I could conceivably see it getting dense enough to warrant separate paths ala the esplanade (though I guess that is the case already around the police station and ruggles), but it's no big deal to ride around them. Just give a little ding ding with your bell, 9 times out of 10 its a pleasant interaction for both parties.
The segway wasn't going any slower than the lower range of cyclists, was going in a straight line, and bothering no one. The fact that it is motorized doesn't seem to make much of a difference-- my neighbor has a bicycle with a assist motor, it would be silly to kick him off the bikepath. I have a much bigger gripe with fellow cyclists that ride up next to the curb cut at a red light then try to cut off 4 or 5 bikers that were already there waiting, or who pass in the crosswalk and cut me off at the opposite curbcut.
that's the law
my neighbor has a bicycle with a assist motor, it would be silly to kick him off the bikepath
Guess what? That's the law.
Really? Is this law
Really? Is this law statewide? Up to individual authority (DCR, State Parks, City Parks, etc)? Or does it differ by path and by park?
It seems like a common sense rule, but I can't recall having seen it conspicuously posted on the path.
Yes, it's a state law
But you're right, it isn't posted anywhere I've seen. As a cyclist who also owns a scooter, I really have a hard time envisioning myself riding a Vespa on a dedicated bike path, but I guess it happens - I think an incidence of this was recently in the news.
One Segway, one stroller, one off-leash dog - no problem. It's when multiples of all of the above or some combination thereof are present that it becomes hazardous, especially during rush hour when there are clumps of cyclists passing each other as well. Having to slow down, ding my bell (half the time at people who look at me as if what I'm doing is unbelievably rude), and deal with Mr. Tour de France trying to pass all of us is a challenge, to say the least.
Come...
ON!!!
Kinda ironic. Didn't the guy
Kinda ironic. Didn't the guy who invented Segway had a vision that it would semi-replace walking? Now it is relegated to the bike lanes/street.
I think his vision was that
I think his vision was that cities would continue to sprawl out like suburbs, therefore making walking impractical, and creating a market for Segways.
But in reality, that's a stupid idea, and most people realize that now.
better page re: wheelchair
So what happens if wheelchairs become faster and 'cause a hazard'?
This is the one that led to the Segway invention; https://www.msu.edu/~luckie/segway/iBOT/iBOT.html
Segway descended from wheelchair research
I can't swear to the exact evolution, but I think Dean Kamen was working to improve wheelchair technology, and his efforts led him to Segway. Check out the wheelchair: http://www.dekaresearch.com/ibot.shtml
Segway regulations
Typical knee jerk reaction. One person had an accident (in which they only hurt them self ) and the City Council has to pass a law to restrict something because there is a potential menace to senior citizens and pedestrians.
You know what, automobiles and bicycles are much more dangerous to pedestrians due to the fact that they are able to travel much faster. How about we ban them too?