Segway Banned In San Francisco 1027
bhsurfer writes "The city of San Francisco has banned the Segway [CNN.com] from it's sidewalks before they've even arrived. Apparently Santa Cruz, Oakland and San Mateo are considering a ban as well. What a bunch of spoilsports...or are they? Any thoughts on this?" According to the article, hiring high-powered lobbyists may have backfired. but the city claims safety concerns are behind the decision.
What could be funnier? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:That's Insane... (Score:5, Funny)
I have no problem with keeping these things off our sidewalks, for the same reasons that I have no problem with bicycles being confined to the street.
'jfb
Re:I hope they banned bikes on their sidewalks too (Score:1, Funny)
GULP! I weigh 300 and could probably get up to 12mph, if you rolled a donut down a hill.
Guess I'm not going to SF any time soon.
Re:I hope they banned bikes on their sidewalks too (Score:5, Funny)
Bill Gates weighs 70 pounds and only goes 10 mph, and just look at all the damage he has caused!
40 MPH!! (Score:2, Funny)
Going 40 MPH on a sidewalk, in a Segway, would be like pedestrian pinball.
Re:Wrong! (Score:3, Funny)
I can see the headline now... (Score:2, Funny)
-Steve
Other cities banning? (Score:5, Funny)
In California, officials in Santa Cruz, Oakland and San Mateo are still waiting on additional payoffs, and are wary after the much publicized "payoff check is in the mail" campaign failed in San Francisco.
One official is quoted as saying, "Bring cash."
Dork Factor (Score:5, Funny)
Re:What could be funnier? (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Much easier to do this... (Score:5, Funny)
>
>or improve MUNI...
If you could buzz by them at 12.5 MPH, you wouldn't even see the homeless, much less wing a quarter at 'em. (And if you did wing a quarter at a particularly worthy-looking bum at that speed, it'd probably only whizz by him and kill the poor bastard begging next to him!)
Likewise, if Segways were legal in SF, you could go anywhere in the city whenever you wanted, so who the hell would ride MUNI?
No bones about it, banning Segways is being done improve life for the homeless and to keep MUNI afloat. *g*
Re:Segway in San Francisco (Score:5, Funny)
Last time I was there in '97 the sidewalks were empty, apart from fat-assed Sacramento residents who jiggled their way across them on their way into KFC or McDonalds for a bucket or bag full of fried lard.
The reason why pedestrians in San Francisco don't want Segways on their sidewalks is simple physics. A Segway weighs around 70lbs. The average rider would weigh around 150lbs, with some weighing well in excess of 200lbs. The combined weight would be at least 220lbs, with weights up to 300lbs possible. A Segway can travel at up to 12mph. Getting hit by a 250lbs mass traveling at 12mph would be like getting tackled by an NFL linebacker. It could cripple the average adult, and it would kill old people. San Francisco has a large elderly population, and they have enough trouble getting around town without having to worry about being creamed by some pasty yuppie ass tooling down the sidewalk on his $10,000 toy, yapping on his goddamn cell phone.
It's called the SIDEWALK. SIDE, as in at the side of the road, and WALK, as in where your fat lazy ass is supposed to, like, walk. If you want to operate a motor vehicle, do it in the street. The sidewalk is reserved for pedestrians.
Re:Sidewalks are for (Score:1, Funny)
Re:Banned in Dallas, TX as well..... (Score:1, Funny)
Re:That's Insane... (Score:3, Funny)
So go mind your freakin business and leave us to our champagne coolies and cats!
[Karma to burn]
Re:Olympic Sprinter? (Score:4, Funny)
For comparison, the fastest 100m dash was 10.2 meters per second, or almost 23 mph. A segway goes 12.5 mph, which is about 5.6 m/s -- faster than a swarm of killer bees or an australian crocodile [gatech.edu], but not quite as fast as a steep lava flow (9.1 m/s) or a Tyrannosaurus Rex (estimated at 11.1 m/s).
The segway is nearly as fast as a roadrunner (6.7 m/s)... just wait 'til Wiley E. Coyote gets his hands on one. In the meantime, imagine getting nailed by a 250 pound metal cyborg roadrunner as you walk to work.
Hope that clears things up.
Re:And the City of San Franciso has been using the (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Yeah, I hate bikes on sidewalks. (Score:2, Funny)
Every irresponsible f?ck I take out is one less that'll damage a little old lady bringing her gelusil home...
Six Degrees to Scapegoat. (Score:5, Funny)
Re:That's Insane... (Score:3, Funny)
Dude... I'm a 275lbs rugby player that can't roller-blade for shit. Trust me when I say that ANY segway accident will be WAY safer than me "losing it" on my blades!
Re:I've seen one in action in a crowded area. (Score:2, Funny)
So, I think a lot of people are worried about { nothing | something | having to get out of the path of yet another asshole on a wheeled vehicle | nitwits without any regard for the law or its underlying purpose }. It's the regular fear of the unknown. If a segway mowing you down is your greatest fear in life, { I envy you | too fucking bad | you must be a goddamn pedestrian | you live in some shitty-ass country where most people don't own cars | you are elderly | you are a small child }.
Re:Not sure how they could ban something... (Score:5, Funny)
There is a local mall that's near an elderly care centre, and it is a little unnerving when an attack wing of grannies on those electric trikes come whizzing down the mall at you on seniors' discount day.
I suppose all those people who wanted a Segway could get one of those electric trikes, slap on a grey wig and go for it... But I don't know if anything less agile than a bicycle, heavier too, should be mixing with pedestrians at 15 mph on the sidewalk. (And you just have know that they'll be riding their Segway while talking on their cellphone, admit it!) They haven't banned them from the roads, have they? Heh.
Re:liberal contradition AGAIN (Score:0, Funny)
Turn off your PC and go outside for a walk, you FAT FUCKING PIG!
Kudos! (Score:3, Funny)
Thank you sir... (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Not sure how they could ban something... (Score:1, Funny)
Civilization has collapsed, the gasoline is gone, the only remains are gathered near wind-farms for power. Except for "I just get these headaches" Max, the .. Segway Warrior!
"You can Segway, but you can't hide!"
Re:Enough with the anti-yuppie flamebait. (Score:3, Funny)
Segway is too faggy for SanFransisco (Score:1, Funny)
Re:Not sure how they could ban something... (Score:2, Funny)
Segwaying is not a crime!
Re:slow cars (Score:1, Funny)
Re:it's a bad idea (Score:2, Funny)
Bah! You'll be telling me that you can run cars on vegetable oil next! Oh, wait...
Re:Six Degrees to Scapegoat. (Score:2, Funny)
huh? You've got it all wrong. Money from gasoline purchases never ends up in terrorists hands, that only happens if you buy drugs. Maybe if you didn't skip through all the informative commercials on tv with your tivo, you would know better.
Re:Bikes on the street (Score:3, Funny)
Any number of times, I've been passed on the right by a bicycle at a corner, when I'm signalling a right-hand turn. As tempting as it would be to Darwinize the idiot, the paperwork is huge.
In Toronto, the stupid cyclists (as opposed to the smart ones) tend towards College and Bloor Sts to die. I think it's like the mating urge of Salmon.