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Yes it’s a Segway. Or – to give it it’s full title, a Segway Personal Transporter. A relatively common sight in many US cities and, I am told, European ones as well. Unless you happen to live in England that is, where I doubt very many people have seen one at all.
Probably, like me, you noticed the launch back in 2001, the hype surrounding the first video clips of it in use and, if I recall correctly, pictures of George Bush using one. And then, as far as us Brits go… nothing. I suspect most of us old enough to remember probably placed it in the same category as the Sinclair C5 and promptly forgot about it again. If you still don’t know what I am talking about then wikipedia as always, offers a quick memory refresh.
I have to admit that I had forgotten all about them. But that changed back in October when, encouraged by my son who had tried one, Mrs Swordfish and I booked a Segway tour of Washington DC and for me at least it was an instant ‘poop poop’1 moment. I was in love with a machine.
With a top speed of around 12 miles an hour and a range of about 24 miles per battery charge, the Segway is truly a remarkable ‘vehicle’, perfect for those quick, short trips where you know you shouldn’t take your car but always do. They are amazingly easy to master and control and are incredibly manoeuvrable. And they are, simply, great fun!
And they are also illegal.
Our beloved government – the ones who promote using public transport over the car, who want us all to be ‘greener’ and care about the environment, who steal more cash from us for driving higher CO2 emission vehicles in the thinly veiled fight against global warming – invoked the Highway Act of 1835 – yes you read that correctly – confining the Segway to private land use only.
The 1835 Highway Act – to put it simply – bans wheeled vehicles from public pavements. In 1835 this meant a horse and cart. The Segway is not allowed on public roads because it is neither a car or a motorbike and therefore can not be taxed or have a license plate. And in a country where the building of cycle pathways has actually been pretty good you can’t use a Segway because it is motorised.
The 1835 Highway Act did not, of course, envisage the rise of the automobile or the motor bike. It did not envisage the bicycle either. Curiously, all three date from about 1885 a full 50 years after the Act arrived on the statute books. Steam powered vehicles might have been a small problem but in 1835 I doubt many people had seen one and Traction Engines were not really developed until around 1850-1860. Invoking such an archaic law in the year 2002 is ludicrous, short-sighted and beyond belief. If I didn’t know better I would suspect the ulterior motive of tax revenue. Nah… couldn’t be.
There is an active but sadly ill-supported campaign to get the humble Segway legalised in the UK – even if only on cycle pathways. This would simply require a small change to legislation such as happened for the ’scooters’ used by the handicapped that are allowed to go just about anywhere their owners want them to go. Well cycle ways, pavements, and minor roads at least.
I implore anyone reading this – whether you like the idea of the Segway or not – to sign the petition at the campaign website. Do it because it is the right thing to do. Do it because we have had enough of stupid, archaic laws being used to strip away our freedoms. Do it because technology like the Segway needs to be championed if we are ever to move beyond petrol driven vehicles.
But most of all – please do it because I want one.
(1 In case you don’t know, ‘poop poop’ comes from Kenneth Graham’s children’s novel The Wind in the Willows and was the sound made by the first motor car seen by Mr Toad (the horn of course) who was instantly bewitched and sat, on the side of the road in a daze intoning the mantra ‘poop poop’.)
I remember arguing with someone near the end of 1999, that the best thing the Government could have done to celebrate the Millennium, would have been to cancel all existing laws and with a single act of parliament pass a complete list of applicable new laws.
Instead of which we got an upturned Tupperware dish.
Sorry Andy, I’m not going to sign your petition because I am already sick of avoiding thoughtless, speeding aggressive OAP’s in wheelchairs, self important green cyclists and the like. When they bring in tests, licenses and insurance for personal wheeled transport, fine, till then, walk or drive.
BTW, there is nothing ‘green’ or ‘low carbon’ about a battery powered electronic toy.
As you say, Segways are common sights in the main tourist cities here like Washington, Boston and Chicago and we’ve seen plenty in Florida where you don’t need to carry an umbrella with it.
Speaking of such things, I remember the first time that one made an appearance at The British Open when it was combined with a steadicam to bring us awesome smooth tv pictures of the golfers as they walked along. Even the big names like Woods were fascinated and would talk, yes talk with the operator and of course we got to hear what was being said.
And no, Tiger did not ask how it would fair against a fire hydrant or a tree !
Silverback´s last blog ..I’m A Rat, Get Me Out Of Here !!
“Upturned Tupperware dish”. Oh dear. You’re really not going to like my next post!
Well I know you are an expert on exhaust and engines and all the technical stuff and I fully realise that battery vehicles are not truly ‘green’ but I would have thought that a charge up of a Segway can not be worse than a 24 mile car journey which probably equates to about a gallon of petrol using my Audi.
Approximately 1/3 of the power we put into the national grid comes out as electricity, the rest is lost due to voltage drop, heat and noise – if you walk past a transformer you will hear it wasting power, the humming is both heat and noise.
So ignoring the cost of making the toy, probably in a country where the are none or little emission controls, then loading them onto a ship, which, like all ships burns crude oil with no emissions controls, it reaches you. So you charge it up, and for every Watt you charge it with, 2 more are wasted, then you stand on it and go wherever you need to, have a nice day and return home. Presumably the diesel courier van delivers the goods you ordered the following day as it wasn’t possible to carry them on the toy !
Don’t get me wrong, if you want a Segway go and buy one and enjoy it, just don’t try and justify it on some flimsy eco credentials !
Just re-installed Mac OSX 10.5.8, god my lappy is so much faster
I just knew you’d spoil my day if you answered this one
(OSX 10.5.8? You’ve gone back to Tiger? I have to say that ‘Snow Leopard’, which was touted as the upgrade to make things zing did nothing for me. I notice nothing different in speed, waking from sleep, rebooting…)