U.S. Issues Recall for Segway Scooters

AP (Yahoo) ^ | 9/26/03 | JONATHAN D. SALANT

[The_Victor]

WASHINGTON - The maker of the Segway Human Transporter has agreed to recall the motorized scooters because riders have been injured falling off when its batteries are low.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission (news - web sites) announced the recall Friday, saying that three people had been injured. One suffered a head wound and needed stitches.

The recall involves about 6,000 of the single-rider, two-wheeled scooters that can travel up to 12 mph. The scooter uses gyroscopes to keep it upright, making it less likely to fall or be knocked over.

The Segway was unveiled in December 2001 to much fanfare by Dean Kamen, an inventor who holds around 100 patents, including a wheelchair that climbs stairs and the first portable kidney dialysis machine.

[The_Victor]

Maybe President Bush's tumble wasn't his fault.

[Cicero]

Out of my price range.

[ClearCase_guy]

To further increase safety, I think 2 additional wheels should be added, as well as a back-up motor powered by gasoline, and lastly, it needs about 3000 pounds of steel placed around the driver to provide crash protection. If these steps are taken, the Revolution in Transportation may resume!

[kinghorse]

I hope we haven't put the finishing touch on the plans to redo cities yet. suckers.

[Prodigal Son]

Hmmm. Tough break.

[dawn53]

In his interview with Brit Hume he said he had injured his knee (torn his meniscus possibly). I wondered if it could have been because of that fall from the Segway.

[bicycle thug]

If you want the best machine for the job this thing is made for, buy a quality bicycle.

If you want the best in American innovation and dedication to quality, something like Maverick American's bicycles excites me much more then these things.

[Mears]

Good riddance. Some cities were considering allowing them on sidewalks. The injuries from that situation would be far greater than the injuries caused by a few idiots letting the batteries run down.

[Reeses]

Out of my price range.

Which is why San Francisco banned the devices. Leftists have trouble with jealously management. Anything that challenges their self-concept of God's gift to humanity invokes anger and envy, and they lash out. Many more injuries are caused by bicycles and skateboards however these devices are inexpensive and do not threaten anyone's self worth.

[Wolfstar]

Love your wit. Thanks for the morning (Pacific time) chuckle.

[Onelifetogive]

saying that three people had been injured.

Do you think that when 3 people are injured on bikes, skates, skis, rollerblades, etc. those items will be recalled as well?

[xrp]

It's always Bush's fault!

[kylaka]

Then it will need turn signals and a horn.

[RightWhale]

Out of my price range.

In the abomination of Nature range.

[doodad]

I still think a golf based version called the fairway would be awesome. Bag mounted in front, each player can get to their ball independently, thus speeding the game.

[justlurking]

Sorry, I thought the search would return articles in reverse-date order. When this didn't pop to the top, I posted the complete CPSC bulletin:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/990187/posts

[Bubba_Leroy]

A helpful customer review from Amazon.com"

Great fun for the kiddos!, September 17, 2003

Reviewer: An electronics fan from Kanagawa, Japan

Yeah, I bought a few of these for the kids for Xmas and they absolutely love them! They box is pretty bulky and wouldn't fit easily under a normal Xmas tree, so we had to get a 50 foot Xmas tree instead. No worries, though: the ceilings in our main house are 20 meters high. Johnny, our oldest rugrat, has expecially taken to the thing. He has some fairly challenging behavioural disourders (which he inherited from his mothers genes, NOT mine, mind you) and he ended up riding the thing into our Olympic-sized swimming pool, but not to worry: Amazzon's return policy covered it and we were able to get a replacement at no charge. Billie-Joe, our second sprog, has taken to riding his Segway on his half-pipe skate ramp. After some modifications by our Afro-American mechanic, Mr. Belvedere, BJ's Segway now has enough power that he can do off-the-lips, rib slides, and "360s" with his Segway. Alls I gotsta say is, the Segway is segWAY COOL! And you can quote me on that.

[The_Victor]

Sorry, I thought the search would return articles in reverse-date order. When this didn't pop to the top, I posted the complete CPSC bulletin:

No prob. There's actually a Breaking News story posted as well. When I searched for "Segway Scooter", the breaking news article "All Segways Recalled" didn't show up at all.

Since they're just upgrading the software to register a low battery condition, it's really not much in the way of news.

[PropheticZero]

You mean to say it don't run on magic.
What a gip.

[dagnabbit]

Segway Spills - Women and Minorities Fall Hardest