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Philip Coates, 51, used his Segway scooter to travel from home in Cudworth to Barnsley - a five-mile round trip.

Police have charged Mr Coates with riding a motor vehicle on the pavement under the Highways Act 1865.

full article:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-so ... e-10630143

Hmmm. I think it shows that far more cycle lanes are required, as that would be the most sensible place for these modes of transport.

You can't really blame him for being on the pavement.

could never see the point of these (5K for a scooter that goes at 12 mph?) but this

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7987301.stm

makes more sense
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goslow wrote:could never see the point of these (5K for a scooter that goes at 12 mph?)

Yeah, a bicycle is more sensible, cheaper, uses far fewer resources and is easier to fix: but I'd probably like something like a Segway when my joints pack in...

If it's motorised and got wheels then it should be on the road. One of those things could really smash somebody's legs up, and as far as I know you don't actually have to be able to see properly to be allowed to use one.

RenewableCandy wrote:If it's motorised and got wheels then it should be on the road. One of those things could really smash somebody's legs up, and as far as I know you don't actually have to be able to see properly to be allowed to use one.

You don't need a brain either. I nearly splattered a mobility scooter driver all over a one way street once. It's just lucky that I looked both ways before driving across it!

Lembit Opik likes the Segway: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7605353.stm, but Paul Graham doesn't: http://www.paulgraham.com/segway.html.

They're expensive, you can't legally ride them except on private land, they don't go faster than 12mph, and they don't keep you fit. And, as Paul Graham writes, "Someone riding a Segway looks like a dork."

It's is an excessively clever solution to a problem which has already been solved. The guy in question could ride a bicycle, which has none of the disadvantages of a Segway. His five mile round trip would be no more than 15 minutes each way.

The two seater jobbie would probably be less complicated, much cheaper to produce, and safer to run if it had a castor wheel front and back to keep it upright. It could still be steered by the driving wheels.

goslow wrote:could never see the point of these (5K for a scooter that goes at 12 mph?) but this

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7987301.stm

makes more sense
[/url]

Looks fab - but I wonder what happens when you do an emergency stop? Do you roll forward like a curled up hedgehog??