Would you be Happy to Share Space With Segways

sc999cs

Forgetting the arguments for and against cycle lanes, would you be happy to share space with Segways if they were given permission to be used on cycle lanes? (If you don't use cycle lanes just consider the hypothetical situation). Where would a Segway be on the food chain?

Steve C

ddraver

Do i get a point for overtaking one?

Crapaud

OK, I'll ask the idiot question. What's a Segway? :?

factoid

A pedestrian on wheels.

Crapaud

factoid wrote:

A pedestrian on wheels.

Like these?



Sorry, from that description I couldn't help but think of Chorlton and the Wheelies.

Underscore

Crapaud wrote:

factoid wrote:

A pedestrian on wheels.

Like these?

Close:



I've had a go on one and they are a hoot - not sure I would use them for anything serious though.

Mikelyons

Sure - why not ?

Way I look at it is their top speed (12mph) is less than most bikes & I would say that in the event of a collision, bike & rider would be marginally better off than Segway rdier.

I think I'd still keep clear of them & would expect them to apply good road-sense/manners when coming up behind any bike , e.g. ringing bell to alert riders.

TBH I can't really see the point of spending over £4,000 on something that's not as fast as a bike, less fun & has limited range.

Mike

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Segway for a definition & http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7360662.stm for more details.

whyamihere

Depends what their FCN is, naturally.

heavymtb

ddraver wrote:

Do i get a point for overtaking one?

My thoughts exactly.

But will they not just be another group of people who get fed up with us zooming past them on something we paid a fraction of the price for ( I know some of us have spent well over the RRP of a Sedgway on your chariots!) and resent us as much as the idiot drivers and pedestrians despise us even more!?!?

Crapaud

Good to see that the helmet lobby are on the case...

wikipedia wrote:

Because the Segway can reach speeds over 12 MPH (19 km/h), the Bicycle Helmet Safety Institute recommends that all riders wear helmets when using Segways.[12]

...I'd have thought that knee and elbow pad folk would have stuck their noses in; looks more akin to skateboarding than cycling.


They look ideal for cycle paths - I'm not so sure about cycle lanes, but I can't see any obvious problems with it.

always_tyred

Would they also be able to use pavements? Or would they have to choose. I think the general idea of these vehicles is that they enable lazy bastards to "walk" longer distances, in which case they'll have to share the existing pieces of tarmac that us cyclists are prohibited from using.

If they are treated as, and behave as, road going vehicles, why should they be treated any way differently to mopeds, or Sinclair C4's? If I took the lawnmover engine out of a moped and put an electric motor in, should I be able to use cycle lanes?

Where do you put the reflectors and lights at night?

Has anyone seen the South Park episode about these things, by the way?

dondare

factoid

Crapaud wrote:

factoid wrote:

A pedestrian on wheels.

Like these?

Yes.

always_tyred

Yes, I'd heard that they were re-making Blake's 7.

Crapaud

Always Tyred wrote:

Yes, I'd heard that they were re-making Blake's 7.

Blake's 7 and the Wheelies by the looks of it!

il_principe

Stupid slow things. Surely designed for lazy f*ckers only. I don't use cycle paths so don't really care but I hardly think it's ever going to be an issue!

2wheelzgood

whyamihere, my sentiment excatly though unlikley to see them oop norf as we are all so engeretic...(tumbleweedsmilie).

What speeds can then do, scalpable? I'm guessing they are faster than peds based on this

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1049698.stm

IMHO if it has wheels it should be subject to the same discrimination as a cycle or anything else. Unless of course we go all out chaotic a la France or Italy where anything goes but common sense prevails... yeah OK replies on a postcard

biondino

Segways are just going to be like slow cyclists, only more stable. Happy for them to use the cycle lane/left side of the road. One Less Car, after all.

Littigator

Got nothing against them generally i think they're pretty cool, and if people want to use them then that's up to them. If it removes a car from the roads then even better,

But as for cycle lanes, NO WAY they can P*SS off. 12mph MAX speed. How many people on this forum cycle at 12 mph MAX??? We'd constantly have the pull out to pass them (something I have to do with all other riders anyway )

They should stay on the pavement like mobility buggies. I see a guy around Kensington that rides his buggy down the road with buses honking and everything, doing about 8mph and he's a danger to all around him.

Crapaud

Littigator wrote:

... But as for cycle lanes, NO WAY they can P*SS off. 12mph MAX speed. How many people on this forum cycle at 12 mph MAX??? We'd constantly have the pull out to pass them (something I have to do with all other riders anyway ) ...

Is that not the same attitude that motorists have of us?

Pot / black?

Littigator

Crapaud wrote:

Littigator wrote:

... But as for cycle lanes, NO WAY they can P*SS off. 12mph MAX speed. How many people on this forum cycle at 12 mph MAX??? We'd constantly have the pull out to pass them (something I have to do with all other riders anyway ) ...

Is that not the same attitude that motorists have of us?

Pot / black?

OK so on your logic why can't we all just share the roads with everyone eh...how about pedestrains..why not hhmmm?

Are you also suggesting you would be happy to share cycle lanes with mobility buggies then? What about scooters provided they don't exceed a certain speed?

No, the reason we don't is to acknowledge that different modes of transport need different zones of use where practicable. So cyclists cannot use motorways due to the speed difference. Sensible. Segways should not use bike lanes in this country due to speed difference.. it is too great as the majority of cyclist go considerably faster than a segways top speed.

If it was in Europe, e.g. Paris, Amsterdam or Copenhagen then I would say yes fine, they cycle much more slowly over there.

As for cars and their speed difference to cyclist, hah! you clearly haven't seen my morning commute :twisted:

biondino

Littigator you've gone bonkers. The majority of cyclists don't go over 12mph! Certainly not if they want their helmets to work.

Littigator

biondino wrote:

Littigator you've gone bonkers. The majority of cyclists don't go over 12mph! Certainly not if they want their helmets to work.

aHAH! You're not sucking me into that helmet/no helmet nonsense debate BD....besides the nonsense is not wearing one.....NOOOOO! must...resist...comment :x

always_tyred

Thankfully, Segways are so absurd that their presence would not pose a significant problem because no one is brave enough to use one.

The question is not "can you share the road with Segways" but "can you share CYCLE lanes with Segways".

I can share the road with anything - horses, cars, busses, electric wheelchairs. Not a problem. I can share bus lanes with a sub set of these. Not a problem. However, the feeling is not mutual and therefore a need has arisen for a little space for cyclists of their own. The danger is that cycle facilities are erroded to become "not car facilities" as people find more imaginative ways to be carried to work in the morning in order to avoid (a) public transport (b) the faff of having to get changed when you get there (c) exertion of any sort (d) a congestion charge.

On the basis of allowing Segways onto cycle lanes, no one has yet given me a compelling reason why electric motorcycles should not be able to use cycle facilities. It just seems to be understood that this is just one side of the line, whereas cute Segways, which are wider, slower and designed to go on pavements, are perfectly welcome.

How about those electric cars which Jeremy Clarkson drove about BBC television centre? They are about the same width as a Segway, they just have a roof and lack a gyroscope. Why not - come on down and drive along the pink gutter with us. I don't mind moving out into the road that the cycle lane was intended to obviate the requirement for me to use in order to pass you, and I have no need to be able to get to the advance stop line anyway, I'll just fight my way through that junction with the traffic.

How about skateboarders, or people riding skeeters? What is your problem, share the road, bring them all on, they are ligitimate modes of commuting.

Hell, just paint the entire road pink and call it a "lane" and let anyone on a wheeled conveyance use it.

I'm not coming down against, necessarily, just pointing out the top of the slippery slope. Okay, I am coming down against. I admit it. Nice technology (although not as nice as the wheelchairs that stand up and which they really should have stuck to) but really, no.

---

Do people really cycle more slowly on the continent? Or is it just that the cycle facilities are so wide that they appear to be moving more slowly?

Littigator

Always Tyred wrote:

Thankfully, Segways are so absurd that their presence would not pose a significant problem because no one is brave enough to use one.

The question is not "can you share the road with Segways" but "can you share CYCLE lanes with Segways".

I can share the road with anything - horses, cars, busses, electric wheelchairs. Not a problem. I can share bus lanes with a sub set of these. Not a problem. However, the feeling is not mutual and therefore a need has arisen for a little space for cyclists of their own. The danger is that cycle facilities are erroded to become "not car facilities" as people find more imaginative ways to be carried to work in the morning in order to avoid (a) public transport (b) the faff of having to get changed when you get there (c) exertion of any sort (d) a congestion charge.

On the basis of allowing Segways onto cycle lanes, no one has yet given me a compelling reason why electric motorcycles should not be able to use cycle facilities. It just seems to be understood that this is just one side of the line, whereas cute Segways, which are wider, slower and designed to go on pavements, are perfectly welcome.

How about those electric cars which Jeremy Clarkson drove about BBC television centre? They are about the same width as a Segway, they just have a roof and lack a gyroscope. Why not - come on down and drive along the pink gutter with us. I don't mind moving out into the road that the cycle lane was intended to obviate the requirement for me to use in order to pass you, and I have no need to be able to get to the advance stop line anyway, I'll just fight my way through that junction with the traffic.

How about skateboarders, or people riding skeeters? What is your problem, share the road, bring them all on, they are ligitimate modes of commuting.

Hell, just paint the entire road pink and call it a "lane" and let anyone on a wheeled conveyance use it.

I'm not coming down against, necessarily, just pointing out the top of the slippery slope. Okay, I am coming down against. I admit it. Nice technology (although not as nice as the wheelchairs that stand up and which they really should have stuck to) but really, no.

WOOHO, that's what i was trying to say but in my clunky monosylabic manner

---

Do people really cycle more slowly on the continent? Or is it just that the cycle facilities are so wide that they appear to be moving more slowly?

Yes, I've read a couple of things, one about cycling in Paris and one about cycling in Copenhagen both suggesting that continental urban cycling is much more sedate than the tearaway style in this country...nothing to do with SCR of course (cough)

As for Amsterdam, I'm not saying it's anything to do with what they intake, but those guys cycle almost slower than the pedestrians...and it seems that the only legal type of bike is a pre-war iron clad sit up and beg!

always_tyred

Well, I've heard that they are installing subterranean magnets throughout europe, and cast iron bicycles are necessary in order to take advantage of these.

I'm just off to ask a member of our support staff for a shag before the end of the universe. See you guys.

R25 Flyer

If you cycle with due care and attention (as all members of this forum do), as any car driver is expected to, then a slower moving form of transport ahead should provide no problem. Any cyclist will be able to moderate their own driving style to enable a safe passing at an appropriate time. Just don't splash that pedestrian when pulling back in

biondino

hang on a sec - segways ARE bicycles!

STEFANOS4784

Lol, indeed, but as they're electric i think they'll end up FCN 17 or so :shock:

lost_in_thought

Crapaud wrote:

Good to see that the helmet lobby are on the case...

wikipedia wrote:

Because the Segway can reach speeds over 12 MPH (19 km/h), the Bicycle Helmet Safety Institute recommends that all riders wear helmets when using Segways.[12]

...I'd have thought that knee and elbow pad folk would have stuck their noses in; looks more akin to skateboarding than cycling.


They look ideal for cycle paths - I'm not so sure about cycle lanes, but I can't see any obvious problems with it.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHHAHAHAAAA the guy in the yellow crashed into the wall. Epic fail.

prj45

lost_in_thought wrote:

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHHAHAHAAAA the guy in the yellow crashed into the wall. Epic fail.

I think he's trying to commit segway suicide

"I look really stupid, every body hates me and my segway, that's it, I'm going to end thsi"

*soft bop* *soft bop* *soft bop* [repeat]