

Segways meet resistance in Boston neighborhood - ilamont
http://www.universalhub.com/2010/city-council-consider-banning-segways-busy-sidewal

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maxharris
I have a Segway.

I always stop when other people are walking toward me on the sidewalk; it
makes them more comfortable.

The other important thing to watch out for are blind corners - where obstacles
prevent others from seeing you. I do my very best to stop so that I don't
surprise anyone.

Why doesn't this guy just push for the ability to issue tickets to impolite
Segway users instead?

Banning Segways has repercussions that this guy probably hasn't considered.
Remember that nationwide, well over a third of all Segway users are physically
disabled in some way, and around here, at least two of the three owners that I
know are.

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ilamont
Note that the discussion in Boston also relates to complaints in the North
End, where tourists can rent Segways and local residents complain about the
vehicles and the attitudes of the owner of the rental service. Background
here:

[http://www.universalhub.com/2010/some-north-enders-fed-
tour-...](http://www.universalhub.com/2010/some-north-enders-fed-tour-groups-
segways)

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RyanMcGreal
Segways are annoying, but can't Boston just let people figure out how to share
space on the sidwalk without more regulations?

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MrFoof
_"In any sufficiently large group of people, most are idiots"._

Take the subway in Boston. You'd be baffled at the ingress/egress difficulties
encountered. People block the doors. Passengers boarding don't wait for
passengers departing to exit the cars before they attempt to force their way
in. People are reluctant to take a seat between other people (especially women
when the seat is between two men), reducing standing space. Standing
passengers do not move towards the ends or center of the cars to allow more
passengers to board.

This is usually accompanied by at least 30 seconds of announcements from the
on-board spotter over the train's intercom system. Per stop. I've seen this
take as long as 90 seconds.

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Nwallins
Wow, that's pretty awful. I've only been living in NYC for 2 years, but I've
totally absorbed all of these etiquette rules that are fairly well ingrained
in the local culture. Still, I find myself gritting my teeth a few times a
week when they are breached. I've never thought of myself as a tense person,
but I swear my body temperature goes up a few degrees when boarding passengers
either stand right in front the door, blocking those exiting, or worse,
attempt to board _through_ the exiting passengers, somehow.

I might need medication if I ever move to Boston ;)

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techiferous
Some Boston sidewalks are crowded and narrow, so I can see how adding a
segway, which is about twice as wide as a person, is not a welcome addition.

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gyardley
Width of a Segway: 25"

Width of a Bugaboo Cameleon: 23.9"

I'd like to see the Boston city council try to ban strollers.

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barrkel
That's a specious comparison. People make all sorts of concessions for people
with children. People who want to drive their mechanical devices on the
sidewalk, not so much.

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mynameishere
Yeah, the number of upmods that guy is getting is giving me an uneasy feeling.
It's about the starkest apples vs. oranges fallacy I've ever seen. Can someone
actually present a non-idiotic argument as to why motor vehicles should be
allowed on sidewalks? Unless you're disabled, I can't even conceive of it.
Nothing but an ugly menace.

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allenp
So I guess the question is - should disabled people be able to use these
devices on the sidewalks (with appropriate license/plate)? And should non-
disabled folks be able to use them in bike lanes? Etc? Honest question, I have
never ridden a Segway but want to try it.

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dougp
Crowds are actually what segways are best at. You can easily control your
speed and turn in place. There is a reason mall cops use them rather then
bikes.

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ams6110
I thought it was because they were too obese to walk from one end of the mall
to the other.

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eli
Well, you can't rid bicycles on the sidewalks in most major cities either. So
I don't think it's an example of people fearing new and different modes of
transportation.

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moron4hire
Ah, the Segway. Remember when they were saying it was going to revolutionize
travel, and then when it was revealed to be this dorky scooter, everyone let
out a collective "oh..."?

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ams6110
Yeah it was called "It" during the pre-unveiling hype, while, everyone
wondering what "It" was... I think Steve Jobs said something like "they are
going to design cities around this thing."

And now Boston says "This is a walkable city, not a Segway city."

