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Segway Accident, Owner Dies

Posted 20 months ago|4 comments|751 views
Jimi Heselden
Written by
What a public relations disaster this one is going to be! The new owner of the Segway company takes his offroad model out for a spin and ends up going over a cliff. Story didn't say if he was riding it at the time he went over the cliff, just that one (a Segway) was recovered at the scene. Unfortunately the man died, either of injuries from the fall or drowning in the river some thirty feet below.

The worst thing about the story was the link to another story about how injuries have been getting worse for people riding on Segways. Duhhh! What happened when more people started ridding horses and donkeys instead of walking? They started getting worse injuries the longer they continued to ride them. Same with bicycles, motorcycles and anything else a person can ride on instead of walking. And don't fool yourself, walking ain't exactly a safe activity either. Just look up the statistics on how many people trip and fall while walking and end up in the hospital! Thousands!! And many of them even die, just like all the other activities that place the human body in any position besides locked in a padded steel box doing nothing but breathing and circulating your blood, and even then you can still die.

My condolences to the family of Jimi Heselden, he left this world early and unexpectedly with much work left to do. RIP Jimi.
UPDATE - 20 months ago
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39377851/ns/world_news-europe/?GT1=43001

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39382682/ns/...
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markbyrn
markbyrn
 Moderator
20 months ago: I had the opportunity to ride a segway in a theme park and it was a pleasant experience; didn't really equate it with the thrill or danger of riding a roller coaster or skydiving but than again, I wasn't navigating it next to a steep cliff.
20 months ago: I've never had the pleasure of riding one, but will if given the chance.

I suspect that if he was riding it when the accident happened, it was more of an over-estimation of its abilities or a section of the trail gave way or he over-estimated his own abilities to make it do what he wanted it to do. Any way it happened, I won't blame the machine. Would be like blaming bicycles because riding one puts the riders head much higher than walking which is a direct cause of the increased head injury potential. One of the biggest reasons for wearing a helmet. Just the physics of the whole scenario.

I would like to have one though, my feet just aren't what they were prior to landing on that concrete floor and anything that will let me move about without actually walking would be appreciated.
Perfect Horizon
Perfect Horizon
Chicago, IL
20 months ago: The article I saw said he was riding it when he went over. It is very unfortunate.
Perfect Horizon
Perfect Horizon
Chicago, IL
20 months ago: The article I saw said he was riding it when he went over. It is very unfortunate.

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