Monday, September 11, 2006

Segway is a CAR REPLACEMENT VEHICLE not a substitute for Walking

I just wanted to say that in a lot of news stories which provide "comment" sections, there seems to be a lot of people who call Segway owners "lazy" or refer to the Segway as a replacement for WALKING.

That's not REALLY what the Segway is for.

What the Segway should REALLY replace is the use of a VEHICLE.

In my case, that's exactly what it does. I park my car and ride my Segway for the last 4 miles of my commute. People who live close enough to their jobs, such as in a downtown environment, can and should look into doing the same thing. I could WALK that commute, but it would take me too long. I could BIKE that commute, but in Phoenix I would get too sweaty, involving showers at work, showers at home, multiple sets of clothes, etc etc. And at my age that's just too much trouble.

A Segway can replace a car for certain short commutes in certain situations. It is far more energy efficient and far less polluting.

3 comments:

rjbrenn said...

You know people have died on those things...so be careful.

Unfortunately the way this culture is the segway will be a dominate force of those lazy people who think a block is to far to walk for a gallon of milk.

Kanji said...

You've really got the completely wrong idea about what the Segway is for.

Did you not read my last post, the one you commented on?

A Segway is NOT let me repeat NOT a replacement for WALKING. No one in their right mind is going to use it for walking a block to get a gallon of milk, unless they would have DRIVEN their car, which would make them a complete idiot.

It's designed to be used in place of a CAR. This means it is FAR FAR more environmentally friendly than a car. It gets at $2 a gallon gas prices the equivalent of 420 miles per gallon in relative electricity cost.

It can be used in replace of a car for commutes, like I am doing.

My closest grocery store is more than a mile from my house, so walking is generally out of the question unless I want to take an hour for a short trip to the store. That's another place where the Segway shines. Instead of an hour-long walk or a five-minute-gas-wasting car drive, I can do it in my Segway in less than half an hour, shopping time included.

The Segway is not designed to make us lazy people, but to make us less polluting and more mobile without wasting fossil fuel.

Kanji said...

Oh, and about dying - the only people who have "died" on a Segway that I have heard of is one lady who had a medical condition and had a seizure while riding her Segway and fell off and died. It had nothing to do with the Segway and everything to do with her prior medical condition.

A policeman in Boston fell off his and broke his collarbone.

Anytime you are on public sidewalks or roads either as a pedestrian, as a bicyclist, or as a Segway rider, your biggest danger is the CARS on the road. So a Segway is no more dangerous than walking or biking.