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Lembit Opik to lead charge of the Segway brigade
David Williams, Motoring Editor08.09.08
MPS and peers will deliberately set out to break the law tomorrow when they stage a silent, low-speed charge on the Houses of Parliament.
Lembit Opik will be joined by two lords as they head a convoy of two-wheeled Segway transporters, which travel at a brisk jogging pace.
They say the zero-emission vehicles could be the answer to London's congestion problem.
Segways cost £4,399, have a top speed of 12.5mph and a range of 24 miles. But the devices - widely used in America and parts of Europe - are banned from roads in Britain under what critics say are "archaic" regulations.
The protesters are calling for the law to be overturned so commuters can use the machine, which is claimed to be four times more fuel-efficient than the Toyota-Prius. "It is madness to make using these machines illegal," Mr Opik said.
"I would rather be arrested and go to court than let the Government obstruct the use of this ingenious contraption that is already being used by hundreds of police forces around the world. It travels at 4mph - faster than the average speed of traffic in London.
"It is about as safe as walking, and a lot of fun. It would encourage people to leave the car at home." Mr Opik will be backed tomorrow by Conservative peers Lord Attlee and the Earl of Liverpool as well as Labour MP Steve Pound.
The electric-powered US-built Segway is virtually silent, emission-free and can be charged from a wall socket for a few pence a day. It has already been adopted by stars including Jennifer Aniston and Jim Carrey.
It made headlines when George Bush rode on one - and promptly fell off.
Reader views (9)
Good on you Lembit. Do not listen to all these Luddites. They harken back to the days of the red flag before motor cars. Most of these ignoramouses have never
experienced the joys of Segway.
- Natanza, Denny Stirlingshire
You cycle because it's fun for you. I Segway because it's fun for me. Why do cyclists feel so threatened by a technology they have never used?
If technology is such a bad thing, we should ban trainers and hiking boots, only bare feet on paths! Can you image the damage a 200 lb man's hiking boot could do to a senior citizen? Ban sun lotion! You're in nature; you're supposed to get burned if you stay out too long!
An owner of a 4,500 pound 4x4 has no room to talk about wasting resources or being lazy. Over the years backward thinking people have tried and tried to slow progress, thank goodness progress normally wins the day.
Going on a Segway does not mean that you are lazy. It is an alternative way to enjoy a ride in the park. Maybe you just want the thrill of going on a Segway. What's wrong with that? and they are very safe, safer than a bicycle in fact. They can stop quicker than a bike and can stay motionless while still keeping it's rider on board, plus their turning circle is zero. So lets not forget that one of the single most important things in life is about having fun-next time you get a chance to try a Segway don’t miss out and put some balance in your life!
- Jeff Lawrence, Exeter. Devon
Why, whenever Segways are mentioned, do a few bike fanatics always start insisting that bikes are the solution to all problems?
Bikes are good. We should encourage their use. But bikes can't do everything. Not everyone can ride a bike, due to health or physical limitations. Not everyone wants to arrive at work all sweaty. Bicycles aren't stable at slow speeds, and thus mix with dense crowds of pedestrians poorly if at all. Bicycles have a lot of difficulty with steep hills, as well as storm drains, other roadway features that grab their narrow tires.
Segways, however, do well in all these circumstances. They're stable, and ride in crowded elevators with perfect aplomb. You can ride them if you only have one leg and a crutch. If you can climb on one and stand, it will do the work of balancing for you and get you there. Even if you only have a half a lung. Or will get you there without your nice business suit being drenched with sweat.
Nobody argues bikes should be replaced with Segways! But give people more options to get out of their cars. If you insist that bikes are the only answer, you will never reach folks like me, for whom bikes are not an option.
My Segway uses less electricity than the laptop computer I am typing this on. Yet it gets me from home to ferry to my desk, and back. I hardly use my car any more, except to transport my daughter. (And as she learns to bike, I hope to do less of that!)
Segway owners support more bike facilities, too -- just share!
- Bob Kerns, Corte Madera, CA, USA
I feel these are much safer than bicycles because you are in a much better and quicker position to dismount and step clear of the vehicle than on a bicycle - where you are a straddle.
I'm also aware that these may be more easy for some disabled people to ride - where they do not want or are not able to fully controlled leg function.
- Michelle Burdis, Haywards Heath - UK
The comments about bikes being greener are all valid, UNLESS, you are suffering from heart or lung problems, have mobility issues or just plain need to arrive at your destination looking smart and not dripping with sweat. Oh, and I would like to see these cyclist's cover 24 miles with the ease that a Segway does. Come on, lets open our minds, not close them like our government has, to the most innovative form of transport. It is here to stay, there is absolutely no doubt about that.
- Nick Thurston, Ashford, Kent
As a national disabled rights person, who is disabled car driver. Also tries and use so called public transport as a disabled passenger, I more than anyone appreciate my manual wheelchair (i.e. class one invalid carriage and my electric disabled scooter (i.e. class three invalid carriage)and the freedom they give me over my car and/or public transport around Cities like London.
However, I am the first to admit there is a growing problem over misuse of electric wheelchairs and disabled scooters (i.e. invalid carriages class one, Class Two 4MPH and class Three 8MPH),let alone the raising number of accidents, injuries and deaths involving these, in our cities and towns plus in the countryside as well.
Most of the causes of these accidents, are not caused by the user's directly or solely, but because of failures and mistakes of the likes of our politician's, MP's like Opik, Lord Attlee and the Earl of Liverpool.
As well as Department for Transport and local authorities, equally the NHS and the supplier's of electric wheelchairs and scooters, the reasons are to many to go into here.
Though when you have stupid politician's like these three openly breaking the law, and yes they should be charged with said traffic offences. Because these 3 political idiots have not though it through, if they get away with it publicly, then they will have opened the door for disabled people to ride these Sedways and disabled scooters at 12MPH in our cities public area cause more accidents too.
- Wheelchaircharlie39, Blackpool, UK,
He's only doing this because his previous cheeky 'bike' chucked him.
- Adam, Harrow, UK
Lembit Opik is an idiot. While some bikes can cost £4399 and more, most don't and are a quicker, cleaner and healthier mode of transport, if that is your wish, so why doesn't he invest more energy into something that could make a real change to levels of congestion, pollution and good health and campaign for better facilities for cycling throughout London and the UK?
- Md, London, UK
What about cycling? You get similar speeds and cycling is actually emission free, because you don't need to recharge yourself using a coal fired power station, just an environmentally friendly sandwich should do.
- Des, London, England
