Mr. Segway?

While I tend to agree with that (having never been on a Segway myself), I prefer to leave it up to the medical professionals to decide what does and does not constitute as a medical device.

Have medical professionals actually signed off on the Segway as a medical device? Or are the placards device-specific?

BMX said:
I mean really how much damage could he possibly cause if he bumps into something?

Quite a bit. Would he be able to do much damage to a crowd? No, but he could do quite a bit of damage to 1 person.

And considering most elderly barely have the reaction time necessary to drive a car, I'm not willing to trust them with something that requires balance as well. At least not in a crowded area.

Thank, John. That scene is so going into one of my scripts. :)

In all seriousness, if someone hit me with a Segway at Cedar Point, I would be furious. You don't get a free pass for running into someone because you're handicapped.

Wow, it seems like some of you tend to grow a pair of balls when it comes to an old man on a Segway. It's not a big deal that he is on one! If it ruins your day and bothers you that much, then maybe your anger should be kept under control at home! Like I said before, he is courteous to those around him...he's not a psycho out to run little children over.

Well when I started this thread I never thought it would lead to this, but here's my take on this current situation:

I have seen this gentleman manuever around the park on multiple occasions. From my observations, he is never running at high speeds (he's at a max of 6-8 MPH by my educated guess.) I have never seen him attempt to manuever through a crowd, he is always in empty areas of the park. This observation alone lets me know that he's not a Segway Seriel Killer out trying to murder any passer-by via the often talked about but seldomley used "Segway Run-Over" tactic. ;)

Here's my final take on why he rides though. As a child of a father with muscular dystrophy, I can tell you that walking around a park like Cedar Point weekend after weekend for him is out of the question. By this logic, I can assume that "Mr. Segway" could have the same trouble walking long distances, and I just see his Segway as a vertical electric scooter.

In fact, I am more afraid of the inconsiderate people on scooters running into my heels than a guy who rides on a Segway.

BMX said:
Let the guy ride his two wheeled, law of physics defying contraption. I mean really how much damage could he possibly cause if he bumps into something?

Spoken like someone who hasn't been on one. They are heavy and they will hurt people if you run into them. They top out at 12.5 mph, which is exceptionally fast (bicycle cruising speed for most people), especially in a crowd of pedestrians.

I don't see where anyone prescribes these as medical devices. I'm (relatively) fit, and standing on one for any length of time starts to tire your leg muscles after awhile. This is a device that is well-suited to wheeling around the mail carrier or security officers, not the disabled.

My point of contention is simply that it's a dangerous device to have wheeling around a crowd of 30k+ people on foot (and in strollers, wheel chairs and wagons). If you allow one person to have it, how do you stop others? Can you as a park be sure that the operators are qualified and have practice using them? Can you enforce speed limits? Of course not.

Disney already beat down a legal challenge on this, too. And they should know... internal use of Segways is limited to strict guidelines, and employees must be certified in order to use them. Their Epcot tours for guests are conducted mostly before World Showcase is open. There's a reason for that.

RideWarrior18 said:
I have seen this gentleman manuever around the park on multiple occasions. From my observations, he is never running at high speeds (he's at a max of 6-8 MPH by my educated guess.) I have never seen him attempt to manuever through a crowd, he is always in empty areas of the park. This observation alone lets me know that he's not a Segway Seriel Killer out trying to murder any passer-by via the often talked about but seldomley used "Segway Run-Over" tactic. ;)

In fact, I am more afraid of the inconsiderate people on scooters running into my heels than a guy who rides on a Segway.

We saw him in the park a number of times this past summer, and I have to agree with both of your statements here. On the flip side, if they accept this as a form of transportation for persons with disabilities, I can see a problem. One guy on a Segway cruising around is one thing. 20 or 30 or more on a busy day could turn into a minor disaster.

Chase Gilbert said:
We saw him in the park a number of times this past summer, and I have to agree with both of your statements here. On the flip side, if they accept this as a form of transportation for persons with disabilities, I can see a problem. One guy on a Segway cruising around is one thing. 20 or 30 or more on a busy day could turn into a minor disaster.

I can definetly agree with that, which is why I believe this is a non-issue. If Cedar Point hearnd of this guy being irresponsible with the Segway in any way, or believed that he caused an imminent risk to the saftey of the guests, than I would hope that they would not permit him to use his Segway in the park. As the case stands, they allow him to, so it is apparent to me that they believe we are safe. But I agree, one "Mr. Segway" is plently.

^Does that mean that Disney World believes they are unsafe?

A quick Google search shows that Segways can't be sold or marketed as disability devices because they lack FDA approval. However, many doctors and disability advocacy groups still prescribing/advocating their use in that manner.

Upon further Googling, it appears some states (I didn't see if Ohio was one of them) will issue a valid handicap placard for a Segway if the user provides a doctor's prescription for the device. Provided the user has a placard, I don't see any reason not to allow them to use it in parks, although clearly Disney disagrees.

If this guy got prescribed a Segway, I'm changing practitioners. I've always wanted to start a prescription drug reselling business.

I would like to know what kind of disability requires standing for long periods of time.

Presumably the prescription would be for the handicapped pass for the Segway, not the Segway its self.

Edit because 99er got in before me: It appears to mostly be people with MS and Cerebral Palsy seeking these things as a medical device. Admittedly I'm not as knowledgeable about these conditions as I should be (I once had a roommate with CP) but I assume they probably know best about their own personal limitations.

No, I got that. My point was that if his doctor is moronic enough to think a Segway could be prescribed as a means to help this guy with his "handicap", then I should have no problem getting a 12,000 pill-per-month prescription of Vicodin for my occasional bouts of moderate sleepiness.

Great. Ohio is a 'medical Segway' state. Next thing you know, they'll be setting up Segway clinics all over the place. People will be getting Segways for insomnia. ADHD. Hives. Folks will be building their own Segways in their back yards.

Just hope it doesn't get approved as a treatment for narcolepsy...

All this Segway talk has really made me miss Arrested Development.

I saw one guy on a segway who was an amputee. He had it from the segways for vets thing.

For people with prosthetics who are mobile... standing isn't really a problem, it's walking long distances that's a problem. For me the walking ends up causing bad blisters from my leg. When I was at CP this summer I walked the first two days and had to use a wheelchair the last day.

I won't even use the chair until I absolutely must, for two reasons... 1)I hate being lower to the ground and 2)People are JERKS!! Plus, wheelchairs aren't even close to being agile. A segway looks like it moves around more gracefully.

That said, I wouldn't want them for rental at the point, because judging by the way people use the scooters it could be chaos.

You don't have to be completely crippled to be disabled and have mobility issues. It's actually a pain to be mobile, because once you start having issues people act like you're faking it, because "usually" you're fine. With me, no one can really tell I have a problem unless they really look. Even when I'm wearing shorts and my silver leg is all out there. Shoot, when I met my boyfriend he didn't notice and I was wearing a short dress!

RideWarrior18 said:
Well when I started this thread I never thought it would lead to this,

Neither did I! But then again I didn't know it was putting everybody's life in the park in danger! *rolls eyes*