New York Bicycling Coalition Position on the Segway

 The Segway is an exciting technology. It’s a battery powered personal transportation machine resembling a push mower; with the user standing on a platform between two wheels set side by side. Some call it a “super scooter,” and is capable of speeds up to 12.5 miles per hour.

Hoped for benefits include increased industrial productivity, better public mobility, a new transportation option for the handicapped, and less reliance on gasoline powered vehicles. These benefits seem plausible and so NYBC welcomes this new technology.

But like most new technologies, it is likely to cause some problems as it competes with pedestrians, bicyclists, and motor vehicle drivers for space on the existing transportation system. In this regard, the Segway’s introduction to our roads, sidewalks and trails needs be done in a manner that mitigates potential problems while maximizing benefits.

New York State in particular needs to be concerned because it has an extremely wide range of conditions that the Segway can affect. They span from densely crowded city sidewalks to wide shouldered rural highways, from urban playgrounds to vast park preserves. Speed and space conflicts, and the rights and obligations between pedestrians, bicyclists, motorists and Segway users are issues needing examination.

The State already regulates bicyclists, pedestrians and motor vehicles. Thus NYBC believes it stands to reason Segways probably will have to be similarly regulated. The task is to know enough about the Segway’s ramifications to assure reasonable control while not inadvertently stifling this technology.

To this end, NYBC makes three recommendations:

1.      There be Federal and State studies of the Segway’s potential impacts, positive and negative, to existing transportation system users, with a view to devising model regulations on usage.

2.      There be studies to see if safety equipment such as reflectors, running lights and mirrors are appropriate under conditions such as night operation on highways, and when speed governors may be appropriate in pedestrian environments or for classes of users such as children.

3.      For the interim, Segways be governed by regulations already in place for pedestrian and bicyclist use on public rights-of-way including, sidewalks, streets, trails, and road shoulders, and use on public lands such as parks, playgrounds, and preserves.

The first and second recommendations might also cover devices other than Segways. Devices such as kick scooters and mini-electric scooters are rapidly increasing in popularity and becoming a cause for concern in some localities. Currently there is no state guidance to local governments on how to treat them.

The third recommendation, interim reliance on existing regulation, balances the need for some measure of control against the possibility of over regulating. This means relying on existing laws until and only when experience and study show tighter or looser rules are warranted.

The Segway has speed, handling and utility aspects that are a composite of pedestrian, motor vehicle and bicycle characteristics. And regulations already cover the latter three. Pedestrians typically travel at up to 3 mph, bicyclists from 5 to 20 mph, and Segways up to 12.5 mph. For purposes of policing, an interim system needs to specify when a Segway be considered a pedestrian, a bicyclist, and a motor vehicle.

NYBC proposes the following general guideline for governing Segways:

The Segway should be subject to existing pedestrian regulations when traveling at speeds up to 5 mph, and existing bicycle regulations at speeds over 5 mph. The Segway be subject to motor vehicle regulations for purposes of insurance and certain operator limitations.

More specifically, pedestrian regulations covering the Segway would include those governing intersection crossing, jay walking and loitering. Bicycle regulations would include those on roadway usage, reflectors, child helmet use, and restricted areas (such as Interstate Highways.) Motor vehicle regulations would include liability insurance, some operator age restrictions (when not in pedestrian mode), and accident reporting.

Extending existing regulations to new devices may require explicit legislative action. But NYBC thinks any such action should be simple and to only clarify the above guideline.

NYBC’s intent is not to have onerous regulation of the Segway. But just as with pedestrians and bicyclists, unfettered freedom can be at odds with safe, efficient and pleasant use of the transportation infrastructure.

NYBC
April 25, 2002

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