Segway for mobility

[Bill_1856]

Has anybody used a Segway for crowded/traffic congested areas? I'm thinking particularly of the Cades Cove loop of mind destroying traffic?

[Vaughn]

I assume you are not talking about that one-way road (Parson Branch Road) taking off from the Cove! LOL! Did that in a mini van several years ago.

NPS says..."Only bicycle and foot traffic are allowed on the loop road until 10:00 a.m. every Saturday and Wednesday morning from early May until late September". I wonder if a Segway would be allowed during that time period.

[Walter Calahan]

Is there a Segway trailer so I can pull my 8x10 kit?

[SergeiR]

Is there a Segway trailer so I can pull my 8x10 kit?

no but you can hook up usual kids vagon and load it with gear.. thats what i do , even when not shooting LF but got to drag lighting on location or in / out of studio ;)

I think next thing for those is to get usual electric car thingy and hook it up .. then it will be self propelling ;)

[Bill_1856]

I just got one of my knees replaced, and wondered about the practicility of a Segway in the future instead of my electric wheelchair.

[Brian C. Miller]

Bill, I expect that a Segway would be OK, but the important thing is that the machines respond to how you lean. George W. Bush fell off of a Segway because he got on the scooter wrong. As for equipment, there is at least one commercial Segway trailer hitch system, and there's lot of photos of people towing a bicycle trailer.

Another alternative is a scooter, either a kick scooter (http://www.nycewheels.com/kick-scooters.html), or something like a Razor electric scooter (http://www.razor.com/). I did see one elderly fellow on a kick scooter, moseying down the side of the road. I'm sure that it gave him a large boost over walking.

[C. D. Keth]

I shall end this discussion right here and now. (http://edition.cnn.com/2010/BUSINESS/09/27/uk.segway.death/index.html)

[John Kasaian]

Just suck it up and swing your kit over your shoulder like a Continental soldier---foreward, march!

[John Kasaian]

I shall end this discussion right here and now. (http://edition.cnn.com/2010/BUSINESS/09/27/uk.segway.death/index.html)
If he had hired the Swedish Bikini team to carry him in a sedan chair instead, he'd likely still be with us.

[C. D. Keth]

If he had hired the Swedish Bikini team to carry him in a sedan chair instead, he'd likely still be with us.

I'm sure they have the sense not to walk off a cliff.

[Roger Hesketh]

Segways are not legal for road use in the UK. In fact their are few places you can legally use them here.

Four years ago I started to develop a muscle disorder which affects my arms and legs. I can still do most things but any movement is very painful and I am not able to walk far. I'm only 46 and am not prepared to give up on doing the things I like to do including taking photographs in wildish places so I started to look around to find ways to get to places that I no longer could get to on foot.

I am not prepared to be satisfied to restrict myself to photographing subjects less than 50 yards from the car or even 500 yards from the car and that of course is often not 50 yards from the road but 50 yards from a car parking place.

As with most things their is more than one way to skin a cat and no one option is ideal for all circumstances. Firstly for local use and where the ground is flattish I have found useful an electric bicycle with or without a bicycle cargo trailer for carrying photographic equipment . The one I have has a range of about 15 miles at 10 mph without pedaling but does not have sufficient grunt to drag my bloated carcass up more than the slightest hill. Other pluses are that I can take it on the train and I have a rack which attaches to the tow bar mount of my car and can carry it behind the car.

I have discovered that not all mobility scooters are made equal and that their are Off road / All terrain mobility scooters which combine considerable off road performance and hill climbing ability with good range and high carrying capacity. They have dual electric motors, independent all round suspension and off road tyres. They are of course extremely expensive but I was fortunate enough to be get one of Ebay that had broken down due to an electrical fault for a couple of hundred quid and fixed it.

It is the most brilliant machine It has a range of 35 miles and will do 8 mph. It will go up a one in four slope and can tackle a four inch curb or rock. It will carry 30 stone. I have a trailer to transport it on and towed behind the Land rover their are now very few places I can not get to. I have made a towing bracket for it and it can tow the bicycle cargo trailer. Obviously you can not use it to go anywhere so you have to pick your routes with some care but it has opened up the potential for me to take large format photographs in places that I would have struggled to get to even before I developed this muscle problem. I can for instance use it on Forestry Commission roads closed to other vehicles. I can carry much more gear than I could previously. I have for instance a heavy Miller tripod which I like to use and which I suppose could be considered to be transportable rather than portable. Carrying that on the trailer or slung from the back of the seat is not a problem. This scooter is now my most important piece of photographic equipment and I cannot recommend them enough. Golf buggies also could be pressed into service for this job.

[Hollis]

Segway's are starting to be recognized as assisted mobility devices just the same as electric wheel chairs etc. there is a non-profit that has been getting them into the hands of disabled soldiers and they have been the big push behind the legislation to get them recognized. If you get one, you should weld a ball head to it somewhere and you could use it as a tripod...

[Bill_1856]

A response from the Park Service informed me that Segway, electric wheelchairs, etc, can not be used on the Cades Cove road. Twice a weel during the summer, the road is open for a few hours for bicycles only.