Walking, a cardiovascular-friendly exercise, is as endangered today as the spotted owl.
Once protected on sidewalks and crosswalks, pedestrians increasingly share their spaces with bicycles, scooters, skateboards, roller blades, roller skates, battery-powered wheelchairs and other unlicensed transportation.
Now those wheeled gizmos have been joined by the Segway Human Transporter, a self-balancing, electric-powered whirlygig “designed to operate in any pedestrian environment.”
Imagine a 250-pound rider with 75 pounds of groceries on a 95-pound gyro machine traveling at 12.5 miles per hour.
Next imagine the 420-pound missile colliding with a 90-pound grandmother hobbled by arthritis. The picture isn’t pretty.
All wheeled devices designed to carry individuals—whether electric-powered or not—should be banned from all pedestrian venues and relegated to bike lanes and streets.
Period. (1 SEPTEMBER 2002)
