Segway scooters banned in SF

SF Gate ^ | 11/25/02

[Diddle E. Squat]

11-25) 21:32 PST -- San Francisco supervisors today banned the use of the Segway Scooter on city sidewalks, agreeing with senior advocates that the new technology poses a threat to the old, the young, and the disabled.

"It's a really big gizmo," said Supervisor Chris Daly, who sponsored the legislation. "You kind of lean on it and it takes off." He said he watched as one user trying it out failed to navigate with the small platform device and crashed into a wall.

[VadeRetro]

.."crashed into a wall", my goodness, they do that in SF while WALKING.

I think a car may have crashed into a wall once. We need to ban the car, too.

Oh, Al Gore beat me to that idea!

[Argus]

The manufacturer should donate a couple hundred Segways to SF's homeless. Let's see the bleeding heart city council enforce a ban when their sacred bums are riding around on them.

[Objective Reality]

The manufacturer should donate a couple hundred Segways to SF's homeless. Let's see the bleeding heart city council enforce a ban when their sacred bums are riding around on them.

BWAH HA!!! That's a BRILLIANT idea!

[Willie Green]

"I guess I'll have to cancel that weekend getaway
vacation to the Mission District that I had planned."

[PLMerite]

Bravo. A truer, more concise paragraph I have very rarely ever read.

[mhking]

The blue-hairs are just jealous - the Segway'll take attention away from their Rascals...

[MadelineZapeezda]

Put a cardboard box around it.............it will be a trailer
home for some homeless TPT (trailer park trash)

[usconservative]

Senior Action Network members urged the ban be enacted at a rally on the steps of City Hall before today's meeting. "Whose sidewalk is it?"

Someone oughtta tell these old farts that the sidewalk doesn't belong "just to them" ...

And if they keep this crap up, we'll start a movement to ban wheelchairs, walkers, and other "mobility aids" from the sidewalk as well.

Make 'em wheel down the streets and compete with the cars. That'll change their attitude.

[DoughtyOne]

I posted the article because of the irony of the same liberal yahoos who once were claiming the Segway would eliminate the "evil auto" are now going too far the other way to ban its use.

And I agree with the irony that you have noted. Thanks.

[DoughtyOne]

Thanks for the comments Bob.

[hattend]

He said he watched as one user trying it out failed to navigate with the small platform device and crashed into a wall.

I would have paid admission to see that. LOL!!

[DoughtyOne]

How do you ban a Segway when people who can stand can't walk the distances it will take them? Just because an international symbol exists, it doesn't mean that other folks don't have problems, and need other remedies other than a wheelchair.

[DoughtyOne]

The tech intests me too. The wheelchair that this guy came up with first is amazing.

[Willie Green]

This outright hostility toward the thing has me scratching my head.
What the hell is it about the thing that drives some of you folks so damned battey?

I think it has to do with the severely overblown hype and mystery that existed before it was actually unveiled. I'm certain that it will have a beneficial niche for those who will use it. But it's not exactly the most revolutionary mode of transportation ever conceived by mankind as was touted prior to its introduction to the public.

[DoughtyOne]

You folks will get a kick out of this.

They just became available to the public.

The HT price is $4950.00

I believe there is to be a less expensive model.

LINK

[nhoward14]

The scooters already in existance should meet the needs of people unable to walk long distances.

The problem I see with the Segway is the speed. 17 mph is more than 5 times the normal walking speed of humans.

I put Segways in a similar class to the bicycle. Both are capable of similar speeds and are fairly silent, hence a hazard to people walking in the same direction as the vehicle. I don't think either one should be placed on a sidewalk where people, children, animals, and other obstacles are frequently present. If you want a Segway, you should use it in the street like every other high-speed (relative to human walking) vehicle.

[DoughtyOne]

Yes, the liberal slant on it from the start was idiotic. Say, have you ever watched a movie named Dinotopia? Talk about a liberal's wet dream...

[Willie Green]

Say, have you ever watched a movie named Dinotopia?

No, although the title sounds vaguely familiar.
Is that one of the recent perversions out of Disney?

[spodefly]

[Hot Tabasco]

he watched as one user trying it out failed to navigate with the small platform device and crashed into a wall.

Could just as well have been a bicycle but of course those are legal. When all reasoning fails, follow the money trail. Wonder what the ultimate payoff is going to be to get that law overturned? Inquiring minds want to know...............

For you fellow Kalifornicate FReepers, I would rather be giving you a 24 hour notice prior to nuking your stupid socialist controlled state!

You couldn't even give me a free airline ticket to visit your state.