Slashdot Mirror
Recall of Segway Announced by CPSC
mshiltonj writes "The Consumer Product Safety Commission has announced a voluntary recall of the Segway human transporter. The hazard is that under certain operating conditions, particularly when the batteries are near the end of charge, some Segway HTs may not deliver enough power, allowing the rider to fall. This can happen if the rider speeds up abruptly, encounters an obstacle, or continues to ride after receiving a low-battery alert."
If you continue to ride after the low battery alert, it's your own dumbass fault if you get hurt.
It's like saying it's Fords fault your engine died because you didn't check your oil.
Gibble: Descriptive of an emotional state in which one's mind is scrabbling for some purchase on reality
You misunderstand the market for this device. It is basically a wheelchair targeted at old people that can't walk very well, but still would rather be in a standing position (because, let's face it, most of the world is set up for people of average height). Young people are not going to buy them because they are too slow and too expensive. However, the same people that consider riding a golf cart around a golf course to be good exercise just might buy or rent them...
"Freedom means freedom for everybody" -- Dick Cheney
Funny what happens when your amazing balancing anti-walking machine runs out of juice. And once you've picked yourself up off your ass/face, you get to lug your 90lb, $5000 machine someplace safe.
The humble bicycle, as if there was any doubt, clearly reigns supreme in this class of transportation. For getting around town comfortably, get a comfortable bike. For working around the warehouse, get a work bike or trike. And if you would like the electric assistance without your vehicle becoming useless when the battery runs out, get an electric bike. It's just that easy people.
---If you can't trust a nerd, who can you trust?
A better analogy would be, wouldn't they recall cars if your car steering and brakes failed every time the "low gas" indicator went on.
You're almost there. The equivalent situation for a dead Segway battery would be a gasoline engine with no gasoline.
I've been (un)fortunate enough to run out of gas in a car as well as while riding a motorcycle, and I can tell you when you're out of gas in either one (especially if you're in a freeway situation, which I was lucky enough to be in while riding a nearly-empty motorcycle) it is completely unsafe. No gas, no power. No power means you can't keep up, and suddenly the 5-10 feet between you and the other cars seems way too close. So if I, as a driver, am too careless/stupid/whatever enough to ignore the gas light and keep driving, how the hell could I make any claim that it's the auto manufacturer's fault if I get plowed into by other freeway traffic? I think this is similar to the Segway situation, because they're giving you a warning alert, so it becomes a discretionary issue with the individual.
I'm curious to know what Segway intends to do with the units that are sent back for the recall. My guess is that they'll simply modify the Segway to shut down if the battery is low.
Well, DUH!
Nobody ever doubted that Iraq had had WMD in the past, and virtually nobody doubted that the threat of force was necessary to induce Iraq to eliminate their WMD. The entire debate was whether Iraq had WMD mobilized and ready to use at the time of the invasion, posing such an urgent and immediate threat that it was necessary for the US to execute a pre-emptive strike, instead of cooperating with the international effort to enforce elimination of Iraq's WMD through the UN and the inspection process.