[Chris Hibner]

A post above tried to compare the new Segway to another electric scooter. I don't think this is a good comparison because the Segway is not just another scooter.

Nick mentioned in a post on a different thread that wheeled transportation devices are not allowed on sidewalks in most cities. This applies to all "scooters" built to date. There are reasons for this. The main two are:

1) most wheeled transportation devices occupy more space than a pedestrian. On a crowded sidewalk, this is unacceptable.

2) All wheels transportation devices prior to now require a finite (and relatively large) turning radius. On a crowded sidewalk, this is unacceptable for safety reasons.

(other reasons are stopping ability, but I don't know anything about Segway's stopping ability, but stopping ability and turning ability are intertwined.)

The Segway solves the two big problems mentioned above. It takes up no more space on a sidewalk than a normal person standing. It also turns with zero radius, just like a person standing or walking.

A big thing to note is that just because the law is one way today, doesn't mean it can't change tomorrow. What I see happening is the Dean and his company will visit many large municipalities to show that the Segway is safe to be around pedestrians. Then, an exemption can be made to the law for the Segway. This is one of the big things that will set the Segway apart from ordinary scooters.