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Click Here to See  A Video of Another Segway Accident
Look at the Impact on His Wrist
This guy is young.  Imagine a 40, 50, or 60 year taking this fall.

My Segway Accident:

I purchased a Segway in September of 2003. I rode the Segway every chance I got. I rode the Segway almost daily until November 2003 when it got too cold. My Segway log showed a total of 40 hours of ride time. I loved my Segway.  It was a great way to meet people and socialize.  I explored walking paths that I did not know existed in my community and other communities.  I found newly paved parking lots to ride and discover the Segway's capabilities.  The Segway will turn so fast it can easily throw you off.  You must use your weight and lean hard into turns to avoid being thrown.

In my opinion the Segway does have it's flaws.

The Segway is a balancing act. You lean forward it goes forward.  You lean back it goes back.  Basically as you lean your upper body forward or backwards the Segway is trying to keep your feet under you. It's kind of like balancing the end of a broom in your palm but more like balancing a pencil with the eraser in your palm.  The Segway monitors the pitch and the rate of pitch.  Lean way forward the Segway reaches top speed. Lean way back and the Segway will rapidly slow down to a stop. If you lean slowly forward the Segway accelerates very gradually. Lean quickly the Segway accelerates quickly.  Hear lies the flaw.

The Segway monitors and reacts to the pitch and the rate of pitch.  If the Segway determines the pitch is too great the Segway turns off.  No stick shake, no tone, no warning, just "Motors OFF". The unit will turn off without warning.  So imagine traveling on concrete at 7 or 8 miles per hour leaning forward to accelerate to 12 miles per hour and having the Segway determine that the forward pitch limit has been exceeded and the Segway turns off.  So as you force your head down toward the concrete with the false sense of security that the Segway will move under you, it turns off.  You face plant in the concrete in a millisecond with no warning. 

So imagine, you start to cross a busy street and you think you have plenty of time to cross. You notice traffic is coming faster than anticipated so you lean forward hard.  If the Segway determines you have leaned too hard forward it turns off.    If you are still alive and mobile, you are face down on a busy road in front of on coming traffic. You can only imagine the level of impact.

In March of 2004 I felt the impact:

I am a healthy 41 year male who has been athletic my entire life. At the time of the accident I was playing and coaching soccer 3 days a week and working-out 5 days a week. I consider my self as very coordinated and capable of picking up a new skill quickly.  I have enjoy snow skiing, slalom waterskiing, indoor skydiving (one of my favorites), rock climbing, soccer, mountain biking, ATVing, motorcycling, automobile drag racing, soccer, football, wrestling, snowmobiling, jetsking (PWC), white water rafting, hiking and many other outdoor adventures. I have traveled over 90 miles an hour on a snowmobile on weekend trips to Jackson Hole. I have jumped motorcycles. I have repelled down buildings.  All have been done without significant injury or a single broken bone. Then I buy a Segway and I break my arm in two places.  Doctors say I was lucky to have not suffered a severe head injury.  I could have been killed. I will never trust a Segway again.  If I ride a Segway again I will trust it like a skate board.  Ready to jump off if another failure occurs.

A few more details:

I was having a very leisurely ride on the level asphalt street in front of my home when I decided to lean forward to accelerate.  According Segway LLC my Segway's Logs indicated that I exceed the forward pitch and the Segway turned off. I faced planted in the asphalt.  It happened so fast I do not remember the impact. All I remember is hearing the plastic fenders, handle bars, and maybe my arm cracking as I tumbled on the road. This extreme impact caused me to break my wrist in two places. The ulna and the radius bone at the wrist.

A broken wrist at my age will take up to one year to get full range of motion.  According to my doctor my wrist will probably always give me trouble and be arthritic.  I was in a cast past my elbow for the first 3 weeks and another 5 weeks in a cast on my forearm.

How did Segway LLC react to my injury and accident :

I offered to send the Segway back to them to test. Steve Hermans, Corporate Counsel for Segway LLC, emailed me back and said among other things  "As you know from our prior email, Segway has no reason to believe that there is any defect in your Segway HT.  We have no need to acquire it for research purposes."

Basically they said tough it's your fault you fell off.  No we do not want the Segway back to figure out what happen so it will not happen again.  This came from Segway's attorney.  Most recent recall now says "At Segway, the safety of our customers and our products is our top priority. " Obviously my safety and future riders safety was not their priority in my accident and injury.

What Happen according to SEGWAY LLC:

What does Segway say:  "In your case, the event logs show that no rider detect was active at the time the shut-off occurred. This means that you were no longer on the platform when the Segway HT shut-off.  The shut-off did not cause you to fall.  You had already fallen." Wake-up.  The log shows no foot pressure on the pads because the Segway is no longer under me because the Segway is laying down. I am going down hard with no warning, meaning something else went wrong that was not recorded by the Segway Log. Like low voltage from the battery.  Battery voltage was not monitored. The most recent software upgrade has added voltage to the log.  That's a surprise. 

Segway Recall Page Says "Under certain operating conditions, particularly when the batteries are near the end of charge, some Segway HTs may not deliver enough power, allowing the rider to fall. This can happen if the rider speeds up abruptly, encounters an obstacle, or continues to ride after receiving a low-battery alert."

Segway tries to imply it is a low battery problem.  In my opinion it's a major software defect.  The upgraded software now has a forward stick shake. Segway says "The stick shake is activated by aggressive riding and other riding conditions that approach the limits of the Segway HT's available power."
 

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December 1, 2005
 

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I have been contacted by two other Segway owners with serious accidents. Share your story here:

January 10, 2006

Now my Segway has the software upgrade.  I will charge it overnight and it will show a full charge.  Within 1-2 minutes of riding, it shows a critically low battery and flashes red and shuts down.