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Segways Roll Over Chicago
lpangelrob2 writes "It looks like someone in Chicago finally found a use for Dean Kamen's Segways. The Chicago Sun Times is reporting that a three hour tour of Chicago's lakefront will be guided by Segways traveling on Chicago's sidewalks at 5mph. The cost of the tour is $65, and an instructional class and helmet is provided -- just in case."
consider the cost of ownership of a ten passenger van versus the cost of ten segways. The segways win compared to the cost of a new van. Moreover the segaways have better access. Still the segways cant be used just anywhere like this.
Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
I'll take Mary Ann over Ginger any day...
like, rtfa?
there was no implication that there was a chase at all, the guy just probably simply left after the incident.
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The child was walking outside her father's Potrero Hill store on Tuesday when a Segway ran her down. Witnesses say it was traveling about 10 miles per hour.
Joel Bleskacek, father: "I was quite angry and I confronted him. I asked him why he was driving so fast during the crowded lunch hour on the sidewalk. He claimed my daughter jumped in front of him."
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That implies that the father hadn't even SEEN the incident. the girl was _3_ years old. Now, I might be stupid but what the hell was the parent thinking letting her toddle around like that in the first place? into a what the father even himself claims that was a crowded lunch hour sidewalk. Imagine the girl wandering into the car crowded street from that sidewalk.. 3 year olds don't know much about the world.
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Sophie Maxwell, S.F. supervisor: "This just reiterates our concerns and our fears that this is exactly what can happen."
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yeah, well, 3 year olds can get hurt in situations just involving joggers if they're allowed to just jump around the place(or skaters or bicyclists or just about _anything_).
world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
Neither, really. It's suppose to fit a zone in between that has previously been poorly-serviced.
Do you walk to the grocery store?
That'd be an especially bad use of the Segway. Grocery customers buy numerous large bags, which you can't transport standing on a scooter. Keeping the purchase size down to what a Segway can carry would nessecitate more trips.
The Segway is meant to replace driving in short trips to and from locations between 10 and 15 miles from your departure point.
The Segway goes maybe 12 miles in an hour. Depending on road conditions, automobiles do between 20 and 60. For the 10-15 mile trips you're talking about, a car is the rational choice for the following reasons:
Segways don't do well compared with bicycles either. Bikes are about equivalent in terms of speed, cargo, and weather protection, but can cost just 1% of the sale price, and have the benefit of increasing the operator's cardiovascular health.
Plus, in uncongested areas, the bike is faster too... and of course it goes longer between recharging.
The market niche for Segways is apparently people who'd like to make small bicycle-level trips, but are too obese to pedal themselves.