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Segway Banned In San Francisco

Posted by timothy on from the you'll-walk-mister-and-like-it dept.

bhsurfer writes "The city of San Francisco has banned the Segway [CNN.com] from it's sidewalks before they've even arrived. Apparently Santa Cruz, Oakland and San Mateo are considering a ban as well. What a bunch of spoilsports...or are they? Any thoughts on this?" According to the article, hiring high-powered lobbyists may have backfired. but the city claims safety concerns are behind the decision.

6 of 937 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Too FAST for pedestrian walkways by Dark+Bard · · Score: 5, Informative

    The ones being sold to the public have an 8 mph limiting key. The industrial ones had a top speed of 15 mph but aren't meant for streets. The skate boarders and bicycles go faster than that on sidewalks. The are a potential hazard but so are many legal devices.

  2. Bikes ARE typically banned on sidewalks. by Viewsonic · · Score: 5, Informative

    And give you a hefty $70 fine. Bikes are treated as motorcycles from a law enforcment standpoint. They must abide by all the same laws. No sidewalks, no running red lights, must use turn signals etc. The reason you see so many people ON sidewalks with bikes is because police are typically lax on chasing them down in a lot of areas. But in high pedestrian traffic areas you will see lots of "bike cops" making sure bikers are on the road where they belong.

  3. Re:Too FAST for pedestrian walkways by Jackazz · · Score: 5, Informative
    Top speed: 12.5 mph

    Human powered top speed: 80.6 mph

    and after some quick calculations
    60/((9.7*16)/60)
    Human top speed on foot: 23 mph

    12.5 mph doesn't seem so dangerous to me, it is about 3 times faster than I walk comfortably, and slightly faster than when i jog.

  4. Re:Mopeds? by Deflatamouse! · · Score: 5, Informative

    Really? I've lived there 10 years, 1/2 mile from Waikiki, and I've never seen mopeds on the sidewalks *everywhere*. I do ocassionally see groups of tourists with mopeds *on the road*. But I see more mopeds on the University of Hawaii campus than anywhere else. Not on sidewalks either.

  5. title misleading by akb · · Score: 5, Informative

    The title should include the word "sidewalk" in it. Many posters think that the devices have been banned entirely.

  6. The other point of view by majid · · Score: 5, Informative
    This article in the SF Weekly gives the other side of the story, and how Segway's high-priced PR effort backfired when a demo smashed into a wall.

    I've seen two yuppies (the financial kind) whiz by on the sidewalk in front of my office in downtown San Francisco (so much for "a device that hasn't arrived yet"), and I wholly agree with the ban - these contraptions are a serious hazard to pedestrians. They are wide, have a high center of gravity and are very fast. They will also probably be driven by the same heedless people who burn red lights in their SUVs (I see that happen at least twice a week in SF).