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Comment by easytiger | Hacker News Reader

Another main reason is that they can't be used on pavements nor on roads

That's not true. I was recently on a segway tour of San Francisco in which we rode as a group on the roads alongside traffic.

Sorry, i was speaking for the UK at least. Should have mentioned that

Can't or are not allowed to? Because Segway sightseeing trips are quite popular in big european cities, and from what I can tell, the devices works very well on both roads and pavements.

Only american tourists do that. They are courteous and the Segways are silent, but something still irks me about them. The tourers mostly look quite fit so probably they could just walk instead. Why bring your whole Segway caravan into walking areas of old towns?

Not allowed to, in many US localities. Segways are too fast for sidewalks, posing danger to pedestrians. But they're not fast enough to merge with car traffic on a road.

Where do they travel in European cities? Bicycle paths?

Chicago does Segway tours through the city.

DC does too.

And they are an unbearable menace. Something about being on a segway makes people think that it is okay to run over others.

Pavement.

That gives a funny perspective on the "we'll [have to] redesign cities around this!" hype claim...

Regarding seeing them being used by tourists etc. I imagine the prohibition exists when framed in 'this will change everything - everyone will have one!' context, which is different from the reality of 'these are actually rubbish - almost nobody wants one'.

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