Technology distraction, causes accident !!!???

[lewisng]

I feel really bad... Yesterday, when gliding on the sidewalk at a nice Sunday afternoon, i have caught a lot of attention as usual, when suddently i heard a loud bang !!! and saw a van hit straight to the car in front where the car in front stopped for a red light. I don't even hear the noise of tire squeeling, means the van hit at full impact of say maybe 25 to 30 mph. I stopped at see both the cars' driver came out and start to point at each other, the van's driver somehow point his finger at me while explaining to the victim car, in no time i got the message and quickly SEGAWAY.

I never thought a Segway can cause such an impact...... has similar experience happened to anyone of you?

Lewis

[Brooster]

The person driving the van created the accident. Your Seg didn't do anything wrong. And yes, I think I remember hearing about this sort of thing happening before.

Seg Seg-away!

Brooster

[Florida Ever-Glides]

Near accidents happen infrequently on our tour due to all of the attention 9 Segways get going down a busy street (sidewalk). The other day a couple was walking towards our tour on the sidewalk and the woman wasn't paying attention (she was too busy watching us)and tripped over an uneven part of the sidewalk, right in front of us. I sure felt bad and stopped to assist. I almost felt like we caused her fall, but in reality she should have watched where she was going.

Tom Jacobson

[Boom Boom Man]

It used to be pretty girls walking down the street that the drivers said they were looking at. Now it could be just about anything.

You are not the one at fault here! - When operating a motor vehicle - the driver needs to be in control of it and watching where they are going.

[lewisng]

I felt alot better after a few of the comments here comforted me. However, now i feel even worst after X-man comment. Although i don't post much (due to language barrier) but i'm a diehard Segway fan just like any of you in this forum and i hate to see my post causes any problem to the Segway community, even though the accident happened a few thousand miles away... please accept my appology.

Moderator, kindly delete this topic. Thank you.

Lewis

[Sunday]

X-Man,

Your post indicates that everyone is adding fuel to some perceived anti-segway momentum nationwide is nonsense. I read this mornig a report which indicates that 1.2 million died last year due to automobiles. No one seems to be screaming for a ban on automobiles, yet. And southeast Asia had over 435,000 deaths due to automobiles.

The problem isn't the Segway, it's people. People not paying attention to what they are doing or where they are going. I personally believe it should be as difficult to obtain a driving license as it is to obtain a pilot license.

And as far as this thread is concerned, Lewis is expressing his experience with his Segway. And the last time I checked, that's what this message board was for; for everyone to share their experinces with their Segways-THEIR own private property. And that means no one had to ask yours or anyone elses permission before they post.


Mark Sunday

Segway-more fun than you can stand!

PS-Isn't it great that we get to read posts from owners in China! I just want to know when Forrest will be visiting with the All American Segway Team:)

[statmed]

I couldn't have said it better Sunday.

I too believe that there should be stricter tests for obtaining a drivers license or when renewing one.

Too many times when I'm on my Segway a driver will just stop dead in the middle of a busy road and want to talk about the Segway. I have to tell him to pull over to the side, and we'll talk and if he doesn't pull to the side, I glide on. Why is it that I have to tell a licensed driver that he can't stop in the middle of the road.

I ride my car and my Segway responsibly. If some one has an accident it is there fault and I have no guilt about it. The Segway is the safest mode of transportation available, don't feel bad because of what someone else does.




H.M. Stern
statmed@optonline.net

I Love It When A Plan Comes Together (Hannibal Smith)

[dhugger]

Lewis, I had a similar experience the first week I had my HT. A woman in a minivan drove into a curb and cracked her hub cap into about 4 pieces b/c she was paying attention to me, not the road... I agree with Sunday too... It's the people, not the Segway. At this point in time, they have been around for over a year... if people are having accidents b/c of them at this point, I have no pitty. People need to be RESPONSIBLE for what they are doing.

http://segwaychat.com/photos/dhugger/dhugger2.gif

[ronzul]

Hey lewisng, it really wasn't your fault... if it makes you feel any better, my friend had a car accident because of a moth! There was a moth on his inside windscreen, and he thought he could kill it without stopping his car! Well... he was wrong

Now I think it is clear this was not the fault of the moth :)

---
Who said that you shouldn't get carried away on your Segway?

[fredkap]

Near where I live there is a home at 10000 Sunset Blvd (previously owned by both Howard Hughes & Judy Garland), the present owners have decorated the front lawn with whimsical sculptures including a lifelike tramp sleeping on a park bench, a policeman giving a ticket to trespassers at the front gate and a couple that are peering over the wall with binoculars. At least once a week, there is an accident because drivers are staring at all of the art and run into the car in front of them. While some people could call the art a nuisance, most of us are just amused. Lewis amaze and amuse your town and please don't feel guilty about other's problems.

-Fred

[lewisng]

I didn't expect an accident happened in front of me...
I didn't expect my post can cause anti-segway people to use it against LLC... and,
i didn't expect my post can start an aguement within such nice community.
Thought i'm just here to share my experience.... that's all...

Perhaps i should have use "Accident in front of me, my fault?" as topic name.

Lewis

[Segway City]

At the turn of the century, the horseless carriage faced strong opposition. One of the fiercest groups was the Farmers' Anti-Automobile Society (FAAS). Their members were encouraged to spend Sundays chasing automobiles and shooting at the drivers. The FAAS wanted cars driving at night to set off a rocket every mile, and wait ten minutes for the road to clear of any horses, as well as "In case a horse is unwilling to pass an automobile on the road, the driver of the car must take the machine apart as rapidly as possible and conceal the parts in the bushes." Among the most absurd laws was the 1896 rule that a man waving a red flag must precede any moving motor carriage so as to warn horses and oncoming pedestrians. Boston banned cars from the streets completely, after failing to pass a law requiring a bell to ring with each wheel revolution to announce its movement. Other cities prohibited driving at night. In 1907, Glencoe, Illinois, built humps in the streets to discourage speeding. Three years earlier, they had stretched a steel cable across the road to stop the "devil wagons." Police were not friendly either, and drivers were often arrested for no particular reason.

I can't help but to draw parallels to the "devil wagon" Segway. If its mere appearance is enough to create an accident, just how safe are these "qualified" automobile drivers anyway? I certainly don't want one behind me, whether there's a Segway in sight or not.

An unsafe driver will always be an unsafe driver. It doesn't take an outside influence to "make them" that way. These are exactly the people who should be out from behind the wheel and, instead, atop a platform! Their distractions can only injure themselves, at that point.

[BruceWright]

X-man, could you send me that link?


Listen folks, Segway LLC is doing more than you realize behind-the-scenes to ensure that we have the legal right-of-way to glide safely. I've worked with the city of Los Angeles, and they were very involved in the process, which is extremely time-consuming.

I may have things I can say about the old marketing management for Segway LLC, but I have nothing but the kindest words for their regulatory affairs team.

And I too have had people against the Segway bring up negative news articles from the internet (some not entirely factual), within the setting of a public forum. But I've found that the facts inevitably come out in that situation, and that people dealing with public issues, at least the ones I've worked with, have a KEEN smell-detector, and are quite used to discerning between the experts and the ranters.

X-man, I'd like you to send me that link, and whatever other information you have that says that we should be careful what we write here.



But my preference is that we always discuss safety issues openly here, because silence can be more dangerous for us. I'd rather know about a crash-situation and avoid it, than have a crash because someone online was afraid to give our adversaries fodder.

-Bruce Wright

Segway: Vehicle of Dream

[Mr_Laurenzano]

This is like one of those "Guns dont kill people , People kill people sayings" I have had STUIPD PEOPLE pull into intersections just as often as they would if a hot blonde in short shorts was walking by, now could we ban that. NO. What other people do and what they try to blame thier actions on is and will remain for all time THEIR RESPONSIBILITY. I would have gone back to the scean and been a witness just to help prove that the jeck in the van wasnt paying attention.


Find the way. Everything comes full circle.

[cyberclone]

Over the years my head has been turned many a time by a beautiful, sexy woman walking down the street. Maybe beautiful women should be banned from the streets and sent directly to my house. i don't know what I would do, but I will think of something!!



Ebay is the way! Find me on Ebay as cyberclone69. Thanks!!

[lewisng]

quote:Originally posted by Mr_Laurenzano

This is like one of those "Guns dont kill people , People kill people sayings" I have had STUIPD PEOPLE pull into intersections just as often as they would if a hot blonde in short shorts was walking by, now could we ban that. NO. What other people do and what they try to blame thier actions on is and will remain for all time THEIR RESPONSIBILITY. I would have gone back to the scean and been a witness just to help prove that the jeck in the van wasnt paying attention.


Find the way. Everything comes full circle.


Call me a coward, i didn't dare to go close to the van. I'm more willing to have a face plant cause by a segway than by a human. :(

I segaway at 12.5 soon after i saw the finger pointing towards me, gee... i was actually blaming LLC for not making a faster segway.

Lewis

[johndjmix]

More people crash things looking at girls than segways i bet =)

Personal Experance -)

--John