Articles Segway Doesn't Want You To Read
Bush's
spill puts scooter in spotlight
By Joanna Weiss,
Globe Staff, Globe Correspondent
6/14/03
It would have been brilliant publicity: the leader of the free world, tooling
around the family compound on a newfangled Segway scooter. If only the leader
of the free world hadn't fallen off. When Ann Hershfang spied the pictures in
a newspaper yesterday, she couldn't suppress a giggle. As president of the advocacy
group WalkBoston, she questions the New Hampshire company's bid to make its
scooter legal on Massachusetts sidewalks. So she didn't mind a black eye for
the big-wheeled contraption some have billed as a transportation revolution.
Segway's
Breakdown
By Gary Rivlin
Wired Magazine
3/01/03
Price isn't the only hurdle slowing Segway's consumer launch. Consider this:
The vehicle weighs more than 80 pounds and can travel maybe 11 miles on a charge,
depending on terrain. Paul Saffo, a director at the Institute for the Future
in Menlo Park, California, describes a ride on a Segway as a "gas" but adds
that the machine "costs three times what a consumer device should cost, and
it's about 40 pounds too heavy." He believes the real Achilles heel is limited
battery life.
Lobbying
To Put the Segway on Profit Path Scooter's Inventor Seeks Federal Aid
By Jim VandeHei
Washington Post
2/23/03
Dean Kamen, inventor of the Segway Human Transporter, wants the federal government
to provide a big financial boost to his new-age scooter. Kamen, the multimillionaire
creator of the futuristic vehicle, is lobbying the government to buy some of
the self-balancing electric devices so U.S. Special Forces can scoot into battle
and rangers can zip through national parks.
Is
Segway Going Anywhere?
By Faith Keenan
Business Week
1/16/03
A year after the Segway was unveiled in a flurry of cover stories and network
morning-show appearances, the scooter finds itself with more detractors than
customers. Consumer and health advocates warn of possible injuries and rising
obesity. City governments worry about chaos on their sidewalks. And key execs
are heading for the exits. All that before the scooter is even available to
consumers.
Santa
Cruz council may ban Segway transportation device
AP
Contra Costa Times
1/8/03
San Francisco outlawed the gizmo from city sidewalks after pedestrian and senior
citizen groups argued it was a danger to people walking. With similar complaints
in Santa Cruz, officials are considering adding the Segway to an ordinance banning
electric bicycles on sidewalks. Debbie Bulger of the pedestrian advocacy group
Mission: Pedestrian is confident the city will approve the ban. She says the
Segway is just too fast for sidewalks.
No
way for Segways? More cities may ban scooter
By Matt Marshall
Mercury News
1/8/03
But the fascination appears to be wearing thin in Northern California. After
San Francisco decided to ban the Segway from its sidewalks late last year, a
number of other Bay Area cities -- from Oakland to Santa Cruz -- are considering
the same move.
And
Now, a Scooter That Can Be Driven on the Sidewalk
By Patricia Brown
New York Times
1/5/03
Ask an urban planner to define the cradle of civilization, and thoughts drift
to that innocuous but vital ribbon of concrete, the sidewalk. "Lowly, unpurposeful
and random as they appear, sidewalk contacts are the small change from which
a city's wealth of public life may grow," Jane Jacobs wrote in her classic "The
Death and Life of Great American Cities." So perhaps it was not surprising that
earlier this winter, the city of San Francisco became the first municipality
in the country to ban the Segway — the $4,950 self-balancing scooter that resembles
a balletic wheeled pogo stick — from the city's sidewalks.
We
were told it would change the way we lived ... where did the future of transport
go wrong?
By Stephen Naysmith
Scotland Sunday Herald
1/5/03
However, pedestrian action groups are celebrating their first victory over Segway,
after one of the world's most cosmopolitan cities, San Francisco, banned the
Segway from its pavements. Kamen's invention has also come under fire from obesity
campaigners. One columnist in San Francisco said that as his compatriots already
took too little exercise, the Segway was 'the ultimate American doomsday machine'.
'This device isn't evil, we think it is innovative, and phenomenal technology.
But it shouldn't be on the sidewalks.' Pi Ra, spokesman for WalkSF, a San Francisco
pedestrians group, said other cities were now looking to follow the city's lead,
regardless of state laws. 'This is a great device,' he said. 'Put it on the
streets, with the bicycles.'
Showing
Segway the Highway
By Matt Smith
San Francisco Weekly
12/18/02
Dave Snyder, former executive director of the Bicycle Coalition and founder
of the lobbying outfit Transportation for a Livable City, gave the device a
try. He had a hard time getting the hang of it. Then Skelton hopped on to demonstrate.
She hopped off, presumably to show that the machine stops itself when unmanned.
Last week, Snyder showed me two foot-long cracks, joined together in an "A"
shape, that he said the pilotless Segway left in the Grant Building wall.
Segway
Aims To Keep Rolling After San Francisco Setback
By Brain Deagon
Investor's Business Daily
12/5/02
The two-wheeled tech-powered electric scooter known as the Segway Human Transporter
hit its first speed bump last week when city supervisors in San Francisco voted
to ban it from sidewalks. If Mayor Willie Brown does not veto the bill, which
the Board of Supervisors passed 8-2, San Francisco would be the first city to
prohibit on sidewalks what is arguably the most-watched invention in a long
time.
Every
city makes way for Segway - except one
By Mark Sappenfield
Christian Science Monitor
12/2/02
Yet, ironically, it is here in San Francisco - where leg-numbing hills taunt
timid feet, and technology is seen as the answer to many ills - that a backlash
has begun. Worried that walkers could be steamrollered, the Board of Supervisors
last week voted to ban Segway. Although the vote is not final, it is the first
significant anti-Segway action taken in any city or state.
S.F.
supervisors vote to ban Segway scooters from sidewalks
By Rachel Gordon
San Francisco Chronicle
11/26/02
San Francisco may be at the heart of high-tech gizmos and innovations, but on
Monday safety-conscious supervisors voted to adopt an ordinance banning two-wheel
Segway scooters from city sidewalks. If the ban gets final approval next week
from the Board of Supervisors and withstands a threatened veto by Mayor Willie
Brown, San Francisco will be the first city in the state to prohibit the so-called
"electric personal assistive mobility devices."
Supes
propose Segway ban
By David Kiefer
Examiner
11/15/02
San Francisco is not ready for the Segway. On Thursday, the Transportation and
Commerce Committee recommended that the futuristic self-balancing, electric-powered
transportation device should be banned from city sidewalks. The machine, which
weighs as much as 95 pounds and travels up to 12 miles an hour, is designed
for sidewalks and was recently tested by local postal workers, but critics say
it's a menace.
Group
wants to bana motorized scooters from sidewalks
By Dan White
Santa Cruz Sentinel
11/4/02
A group of local pedestrians-rights advocates wants to ban the much-hyped Segway
Human Transporter from city sidewalks. The devices look like a cross between
a push lawnmower and a two-wheeled Roman chariot. Debbie Bulger of Mission Pedestrian,
an advocacy group, said Santa Cruz must act soon to keep sidewalks safe. The
group is connected to California Walks, a coalition of groups promoting "walkable,
safe and accessible communities."
Segway
Scooter Protest
By Carolyn Tyle
ABC7
10/17/02
The U.S. Postal Service has tested them out and 32 states including California
have legalized them. They are the Segway scooters that are hyped as revolutionizing
transportation. But protesters say they're dangerous and a group is hoping to
ban them one city at a time.
The
Scooter Debate CON Not on our sidewalks
By Chris Daly
San Francisco Chronicle
10/16/2002
After meeting with advocates for seniors, pedestrians, children and persons
with disabilities, I introduced an ordinance to ban the use of Segway scooters
on San Francisco sidewalks. After hearing from the many concerned seniors and
people with disabilities who have called my office to express their thoughts,
I believe that scooters traveling up to 12.5 mph on our sidewalks pose a danger
to some of our most vulnerable residents. While it certainly may be easier to
look the other way when a big company with powerful friends comes to town, that's
not what the state law requires.
Rob
Morse Column
By Rob Morse
San Francisco Chronicle
10/1/2002
Whatever your age, walking San Francisco sidewalks is difficult enough when
you have to compete with scooters, bikes and inline skaters. Good for Chris
Daly for introducing legislation to ban Segway scooters, which had been given
dispensation by Gov. Gray Davis under the fancy name "electric personal assistance
mobility device." That means they're expensive. Why should a $9,000 motorized
scooter be sidewalk legal when $200 ones aren't? The rich always get off scoot-free,
but not when Daly is on the case.
Move
to ban scooters from S.F. sidewalks
By Rachel Gordon
San Francisco Chronicle
10/1/2002
Two days after Gov. Gray Davis signed a bill legalizing the use of the electric
Segway Scooter on California sidewalks, San Francisco Supervisor Chris Daly
introduced legislation that would ban the two-wheelers in the city. "These things
are dangerous," Daly said Monday. "We need to take action."
Sidewalk
scooter now up to Davis Senior, pedestrian groups oppose device
By Greg Lucas
San Francisco Chronicle
8/31/2002
California's two-legged pedestrians will share their sidewalks with expensive
two-wheeled contraptions that zip along at 12 mph under a bill sent to Gov.
Gray Davis on Friday. "This is a yuppie fantasy, poorly thought out, wildly
dangerous and not at all addressing the concerns of seniors and the disabled,"
said Bob Planthold of the Senior Action Network.
Segway is a privately held company. One of its investors is the venture capitalist
John Doerr, whose money helped start major companies such as Amazon. com, Netscape
and Sun Microsystems. Since June 2001, Doerr has contributed $125,000 to Davis'
campaign
Zero-emission
pedestrian killer
By Bruce Livingston
San Francisco Bay Guardian
8/28/2002
This is a story of corporate greed, inventive genius, and gullible lawmakers.
Sadly, it will end in death and injury to thousands of walkers nationally. If
S.B. 1918 passes the California legislature this session, you had better not
stop on a sidewalk to say hello to a friend, because a person on a silent, 12.5-mile-an-hour
scooter could be commuting right behind you.
Seniors
battle scooters in S.F. turf war
By John Koopman
San Francisco Chronicle
8/27/2002
Senior
citizens of San Francisco would like to remind lawmakers and office-holders
that there's a reason it's called a sidewalk. Wheels and pedestrians, they say,
don't mix. To that end, a group from the Senior Action Network -- representing
30,000 senior citizens -- began a campaign to fight a proposed state law that
could allow the newfangled two-wheeled Segway scooters to hum along city sidewalks.
Walkers
fight to keep scooters off sidewalk
By Ann E. Marimow
San Jose Mercury News
8/14/2002
Advocates for senior citizens, the disabled and pedestrians say
the bill would turn California sidewalks into raceways, imperiling people who
don't move as fast as the Segway's maximum 12.5 mph speed. ``It will forever
change our definition of the sidewalk as a safe place where people can walk
and converse,'' said Bruce Lee Livingston, executive director of the Senior
Action Network in San Francisco, who has assembled a coalition of opponents.
Legislature
should put brakes on high-powered drive for Segway
By Dan Walters
Sacramento Bee
6/19/2002
Were
the Segway just another computer or some other technological device that wasn't
inherently dangerous, it would not be an issue. But a machine and rider weighing
several hundred pounds and capable of going 12 miles per hour pose an intrinsic
threat to real pedestrians.
Segway
hits bump in its progress
by Staff reports
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
5/2/2002
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: 5/3/02 ] Segway hits bump in its progress
Staff reports Andy Kjellgren / Special A member of the Ambassador Force is treated
for his injuries after an accident on his Segway Thursday night. The heralded
Segway has claimed its first Atlanta victim. A member of the Central Atlanta
Progress Ambassador Force toppled from one of the personal scooters on Cone
Street near Luckie Street about 8:40 p.m. Thursday.
Segway's
assault on walking
By Christopher Orlet
Salon.com
12/7/2002
Dean Kamen readily admits that his Segway Human
Transporter, unveiled Dec. 3, is not the futuristic answer to his nation's transportation
woes, crowded highways and poor public transit, nor will it replace the SUV,
the bus or the commuter train. The push-lawnmower-size scooter travels only
12.5 miles per hour with a 17-mile range between charges. It will have no impact
on air quality nor will it reduce the reliance on fossil fuels. What it will
replace is walking.
Who
needs this SHT?
By Patrick O'Grady
VeloNews.com
1/19/2002
A multimillion-dollar feat of overengineering that dwarfs the best efforts of
Microsoft, NASA and Rube Goldberg, inventor Dean Kamen has unveiled his Segway
Human Transporter (SHT), a 65-pound, $3,000 "smart" scooter that can travel
a dozen miles on a dime's worth of electricity. Trouble is, notes Paul Saffo,
director of California's Institute for the Future, "it's about $2,000 too expensive
and 40 pounds too heavy." And about 200 years too late. That's how long the
bicycle's been around.
Scooter
may not change world, experts say. Electric urban vehicle raises road-use problems
By Joe Garofoli
San Francisco Chronicle
12/4/2001
After getting their first look yesterday at a much-hyped gadget predicted to
change the world, experts yawned, stretched and counterpredicted that it probably
wouldn't. After all, some said, the Segway is only a motor scooter. A $3,000
one- passenger model that resembles grandpa's push-mower, at that. "You can
get a great bicycle, a great one, for $300," said Leah Shahum of the San Francisco
Bicycle Coalition.