Segways banned in Britain

[Pat Fairbank]

On this topic, I found out the hard way a couple of months ago that Segway use is banned on streets and sidewalks in the province of Ontario.

I was gliding home from work one afternoon (a 2.3 km trip) when a squad car pulled across three lanes of traffic and stopped next to me on the wrong side of the road, and the police officer inside asked me to stop and dismount my Segway. After spending ten minutes on the radio confirming things with her dispatcher, she informed me that it is illegal to ride a Segway on public property in Ontario, unless you have a disability, or are an on-duty police officer or postal delivery worker participating in a particular study. The officer let me go with a warning, but said that if I was stopped again my Segway would be impounded and I would be subject to a fine ranging from $250 to $2500!

So since then I've been polluting the environment and contributing to traffic by taking my car to work (or sometimes I just walk, if time and the weather permit).