Posted on 11/26/2002 5:02:00 PM PST by Diddle E. Squat
Edited on 04/13/2004 2:41:27 AM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
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.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
Do you have another of him traveling San Francisco's hills?
Perhaps flying into the air when going downhill,
just like those car-chase scenes in the movies.
Don't be surprised if Brown vetoes this ordinance. It all depends on the size of campaign contribution (or other payoff) he can shake Segway down for. (And nobody does it better than Willie Brown, not even Gray Davis.)
Consider this. Here's the spec sheet on what seems to be the baseline model: http://www.segway.com/segway/specs_iseries.html
Top speed, 12.5 mph. Base weight, 83 pounds. Now, I go about 170 - 172 pounds, so combined, with me riding the thing at top speed, we have about 255 pounds traveling 12.5 miles per hour on a sidewalk.
So if I recall correctly from high school physics that Force = Mass x (Velocity squared), and convert the values to metric to do an actual mass calculation, we wind up with:
255 pounds = 116 kg
12.5 miles per hour = 20 kph
So we wind up with Force = 116 * (20 squared) = 46400 Newtons, I think. What does that equal? A sledgehammer swung full-strength by a lumberjack?
So what's going to happen the first time a yuppie answering a cell phone, getting distracted, impacts a pedestrian from behind at full speed? Look at the design of the thing - it's either going to smack them with that handlebar point somewhere in the region of the shoulder blades, easily snapping their spine or crushing their shoulder, and likely causing an impact arrythmia of the heart similar to what kids sometimes get from a fastball to the chest. Or, if the pedestrians somewhat more "lucky," it'll just clip them with the lower portion at around the region of the ankle-to-shin, leaving them with a probably fatal compound fracture.
I think this is a very likely scenario. How many times in the course of, say, a week, do you almost run smack-dab into someone else walking full speed, while rounding a corner, or because either of you were distracted? I know, usually you don't actually run into them, but only because your body is able to react in all manner of incredible ways to dodge the impact - and even then, ONLY if either or both of you actually look up and notice in time. So think about the amount of time, however miniscule, it takes to transmit, via leaning or whatever, your intention to this machine. What is it? A millionth of a second? Doubtful - probably at least 1/10th, and even then only if you're expert at it. More than enough time to leave a pedestrian a broken heap.
I expect at least $3000 of the asking price is for liability insurance alone. I won't ride the things, and don't think I'll feel too safe sharing the sidewalks with them.
If this Segway is as easy to manuever as they say, seems to me there is a huge potential for elderly care. People who can still stand and walk a bit, but not capable of much distance walking.
Who wants to be seen in a wheelchair or behind a walker? Take the Segway! If either of my parents needed something like this, I would lay out the 4 grand in a heart beat.
The kids and I would be fighting over who's turn is next. Hey Grampa! Charge up the Segway! We're coming over for a visit!
http://www.icdri.org/News/segwayacb.htm
Testimony from Gary Smith, Director of the Center for Injury Research and Policy at Childrens Hospital in Columbus, Ohio.
That's the 2nd time somebody's caught me drinking coca-cola.
I gotta cut that out while I'm on the computer,
I just got a new keyboard not long ago, and now I gotta clean it again.
I have COPD*. I can't walk 50 yards without stopping for a breather. A Segway would increase my mobility and actually cause me to get more exercise.
We have to stop this kind of stupid legislation
*My COPD was caused by a double lungfull of Chlorine gas in 1994. (In January, 1993, I could run one and a half miles and finish the last 1/4 mile in a sprint - I was 53 years old then.)
Public urination, however, continues to be readily accepted.
And we could only hope that the fallout would blow straight into frigid, wind blown Michigan, killing all!
Gee, isn't wishing for death and destruction on American's fun! Hee Haw!
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