Things More Dangerous than Nuclear Power: Segways

Welcome to the UK edition of Things More Dangerous than Nuclear Power!
Last year I took a trip to Italy. Lovely place. Delicious food. When in Rome, I noticed that many people were whizzing around on Segways, which are essentially scooters with a gyroscope that allows you to move back and forth by leaning in the direction you want to go without actually falling over.
I had seen groups of people riding around on these in Chicago as well. Turns out you can do tourism the lazy way and ride around on these bad boys to see all of the sights with no blisters on the feet the next day.
Anywho, back in September of 2010, CEO of Segway, Jimi Heselden, died after falling off of a cliff while riding a… Segway. According to the BBC, Heselden died in an “act of courtesy” when he moved out of the way for a dog walker. Apparently, as he was backing up and over to allow the walker to pass, he lost balance and fell 42 feet to his watery doom.
I was unable to find any more fatalities related to this device. However, with an increase in their use, the number of injuries is increasing, although still small.
This tragedy occurred very close to his home in Boston Spa in West Yorkshire, which leads to an interesting point: since nobody in the UK or the US, has died as a result of an operating commercial nuclear power plant, Segaways are more dangerous than nuclear power in both the UK and the US.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Idaho National Laboratory or of any agency of the U.S. government.
