Germans are fond of testing the heck out of machines, no matter how oddball the configuration. They even turned testing into a world-class industry, what with companies such as TÜV expanding into unlikely places such as China. The newest and strangest crash test was carried out for the German insurance industry association, as shown in this video via Spiegel TV. Surprise, surprise! If you drive your Segway down a sidewalk at top speed (15 km per hour) and a car pulls out in front of you, the resulting crash can be fatal. "At slow speeds such as 9 km/h, the Segway is fun and safe, but at higher speeds, even a helmet cannot prevent serious injury, because the full impact force is on the driver's jaw", says test engineer Siegfried Brockman. The rest of the video is worth watching for the pirouetting meter maids, and the "World's Funniest Video"-style clips of people (including GWB) falling off their Segways. But isn't life about choices? One could wear a full-face helmet (and scare small children), or hope for an airbag-equipped Segway in 2010 (just kidding). Or maybe just walk.
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I wanna see the Stig on a Segway…
Here’s another scary fact: People can run at speeds over 20km/h. In addition to limiting the Segway to 9km/h, we should outlaw running. Don’t get me started on Killer Bicycles.
Oh noes!!!!
More regulations to be expected… and make the Segway completely worthless with safety, and long blah blah blah equipment.
Then after having a 10MPG Segway SUV… gas will hit 100$ and, yes you bet, you will walk again.
Breathing polluted air, like the one in the cities, can get you sick and cause severe illness in your lungs in the long time… time to forbid breathing also.
So much for the economy of this device. The health care costs outweigh the advantages. Let the lawyers feed.
Thank god I live in a country where Segways are illegal.
At the risk of being mocked, I will say that I found the crash test kind of surprising and disturbing. A while ago a TTAC post about motorcycles brought people out of the woodwork criticizing motorcyclists for risking their lives. Shall we choose between that or snapping one’s neck on a Segway @ 24mph WITH a helmet?
I have ridden Segways a couple of times. VERY cool. Of course a week later a friend whose Segway I rode, lost traction, fell and broke her wrist. She was moving at about 3 mph. No more Segway for me – thanks… I figure it is not if you will fall, but when. I’ll stick with my motorcycle or mountain bike.
Maybe it is time for Segway to come out with an emergency catch stand that hinges from the top on the control bar and catches the Segway if it begins to fall forward.
Anybody else bothered by the speed differential between the pedestrians and the Segways?
I guess the mandatory training program that all Segway buyers must participate in is designed to clear the manufaturer of liability and little more.
I’ve met Dean Kamen, the man’s a genius, but I can’t for the life of me understand why he thought what is essentially a unicycle you stand on that costs as much as a second-hand Honda Civic would catch on. Other than the fact that he’s obsessed with gyros.
In Sweden, they are completely banned, due to some legal bullshit. Apparently, as they are not equipped with a two way braking system, they can not be counted as a vehicle. So, better to ban them all then to change the law. Before they found out the bureaucratic problem, the police had some for evalution, which was quickly disposed of afterwards. It is so sad when techincal progress are blocked by laws that don’t have any significance in this day and age.
I would much rather ride a Segway to work than a bicycle. I’m probably in their target market. I commute 2 miles each way to work and could leave my ride at the entry of my suburban office park building. It is attractive to me to be able to ride on the sidewalk rather than the street. I would hazard a guess that you are far more likely to be killed in a bike accident than a segway accident for this reason. I would be afraid for my life were I to ride a bicycle in my neighborhood. There have been several bicycle fatalities in my town in the past few years, not even including the numerous motorcycle accidents.
I will say that the segway would be more attractive to me if there were an easy way to get them in and out of my car. I think a Segway is about 100lbs, I would have difficulty lifting this up. After all, it would be attractive to me to be able to go someplace with it rather than being stuck in a 6 mile radius.
Ingvar,
What is a two way braking system? Does that mean there is more than one way to stop the vehicle?
Kixstart –
Here’s another scary fact: People can run at speeds over 20km/h. In addition to limiting the Segway to 9km/h, we should outlaw running.
Excellent point. Can you imagine the damage the a body would incur if one RAN full speed into a parked car? Almost certainly a broken bone, maybe a broken neck. Clearly this reckless and dangerous activity should be banned, or at least taxed heavily.
What is a two way braking system? Does that mean there is more than one way to stop the vehicle?
In Sweden and Finland vehicles are required to have reflectors, turn signals, front & rear lights and.. a service brake. As the Segway has no brakes (nor other mandatory equipment or a license plate holder), it isn’t road legal. As simple as that.
Rix, I agree, it would be helpful to have an easy way of putting it into the car. In fact one of GM’s concept vehicles had storage bays for Segways. Probably a hitch-mounted bracket system that grabbed the handle bar with a lever to lift the Segway off the ground and into travel position would work out well. Like a hitch-mounted bike rack but bikes are much lighter, so the lever lift isn’t necessary. Hmmm… that might be a lot of weight on the trailer hitch. Big vehicles only need apply (so, there IS a use for the Yukahoe hybrid!).
To tell the truth, I would be interested in a Segway myself but they’re very costly and the range is relatively limited. I do live within Segway distance of the office.
A good, reasonably priced electric bicycle would probably be much more practical. Ranges of 20 miles aren’t unusual and you can pedal for additional range, if necessary (one could just use the motor to get away from stops and assist up hills and get some exercise on level ground to greatly extend the range). Electric bikes “featuring” lead-based batteries are rather heavy but those with NiMHs or Li-Ions can be lifted onto bus bike racks or onto your own hitch or bike rack almost as easily as a regular bike.
Of course, if your regular routes are simply too dangerous for bikes, and you can’t use the paths or sidewalks, an electric bike won’t be of much use, either.
“What is a two way braking system? Does that mean there is more than one way to stop the vehicle?”
I don’t know the exact technological terms, but essentially, yes, a road legal vehicle must have at least two fully independent ways of stopping. In cars, they are the foot brake and hand brake (parking brake). They are two completely separated systems, so, in a malfunction, the probability that the other systems works is quite high. On a motorcykle or moped, the two brakes works independently on the front and rear wheel and are operated by hand and foot, respectively.
And that’s fine and dandy when it comes to cars and bikes. But the Segway is just not configured that way. And as the laws look the way they do, the Segway can not be made road legal. The point is, the rules are obsolete when it comes to new technology. And instead of changing the rules or making an exception, the Segway are banned completely.
Rix: “I would much rather ride a Segway to work than a bicycle. … It is attractive to me to be able to ride on the sidewalk rather than the street.”
You know, there must be a lot of Harley riders who feel the same way. Shoot, many times I’ve been in my car, stuck in a traffic jam, and thought how nice it’d be to instead drive on the uncrowded sidewalk.
Now, if Segways were limited to walking speed, I wouldn’t much mind Segways amidst pedestrians. (Especially if the machines made enough noise to be heard as they approach you from behind.) But at present, I think Dean Kamen is a genius for two reasons: inventing the Segway, and persuading many legislatures to exempt them from the rules governing motorized vehicles.
We have enough trouble with golden oldies driving their invalid carriages at breakneck speed on the pavements without encouraging the use of this circus paraphenalia in pedestrian areas
You can’t deny that the four-wheeled concept is “hella cool” —
And the off-road version is the shiz-nit as well.
Hopefully, sales in niche markets will be enough to keep Kamen’s mobility innovations coming.