Disney World ban on Segways faces another challenge

[agnes!]

Once again, we have all of the non-segway people, claiming that the segway is dangerous to use in a pedestrian filled environment. Yes there are reports of Segways having accidents but those accidents involve other Segways, cars and other wheeled vehicles. Show me an accident involving a pedestrian and a Segway!
Do a search on Mobility Scooter accident and see how many deaths, broken legs and injuries you can find.

If disney wants to ban Segways, they have the right but they would have to stop using them also and they make good money from the tours.

Point of information: A segway weighs about 70 pounds, An ECV about 200 pounds.

I have used my Segway to tour the WDW resort areas and I love the paths and sidewalks, especially in the EPCOT resort areas. All the time I was traveling around the Boardwalk, International Gateway and the resorts, I never had anyone tell me I was not allowed or that I should not be there and it was during the Food and Wine Festival when it was busy. OKW resort and Saratoga Springs resorts are connected by wonderful trails and paths but watch out for staff traveling in golf carts as we watched a pair of walking guest dive out of the way as the cleaning staff traveled the path along the river.

My point is not that a Segway in and of itself is dangerous to use in a pedestrian-filled environment but that the pedestrian-filled environment might (if Segways are allowed), morph into a completely different type of environment if there's a much higher proportion of Segways to pedestrians.

And I'm not 'claiming' anything as a "non-segway" person. I thought I was just participating in an interesting discussion, imagining the possibilites both good & bad if Segways were allowed on a wide-scale within the parks at WDW (however that's achieved, either as a disability/assisted-mobility device or as any Guest's personal transport device regardless of disability).

agnes!

 

[jlewisinsyr]

Once again, we have all of the non-segway people, claiming that the segway is dangerous to use in a pedestrian filled environment. Yes there are reports of Segways having accidents but those accidents involve other Segways, cars and other wheeled vehicles. Show me an accident involving a pedestrian and a Segway!
Do a search on Mobility Scooter accident and see how many deaths, broken legs and injuries you can find.

If disney wants to ban Segways, they have the right but they would have to stop using them also and they make good money from the tours.

Point of information: A segway weighs about 70 pounds, An ECV about 200 pounds.

I have used my Segway to tour the WDW resort areas and I love the paths and sidewalks, especially in the EPCOT resort areas. All the time I was traveling around the Boardwalk, International Gateway and the resorts, I never had anyone tell me I was not allowed or that I should not be there and it was during the Food and Wine Festival when it was busy. OKW resort and Saratoga Springs resorts are connected by wonderful trails and paths but watch out for staff traveling in golf carts as we watched a pair of walking guest dive out of the way as the cleaning staff traveled the path along the river.

Two comments...one there are far more ECVs then there are Segways in use, so pure volume will contribute to different statistics.

Second, you were using one not in the parks. I think the issue at hand is more of park use then general public area. Think about how crowded the parks are with all the strollers, wheelchairs, ECVs already, now add even more motorized vehicles with Segways.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

Several important points. (Disclaimer - I am disabled to where I need an ECV when in the parks or in a large shopping mall, but in my normal day to day activities I do not need one. Although I can stand and walk short distances with no problem, if I try walking over 200 yards I have severe pain in my lower joints.)

1. The manufacturer of the Segways has taken no action to have the Segway certified as a medical device. Therefore, no matter what the use they legally are not medical devices.

2. The Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) does not allow a company to ask for proof of a disability to give the people equal access. Note that if they give higher access, such as something free which others would have to pay for, they are allowed to ask for proof of a disability.

3. Disney considers allowing use of a wheelchair (pushed or power) or an Electric Convenience Vehicle (ECV) which are certified as medical equipment to be used in the park without limit.

4. Disney will rent out equipment, such as wheelchairs and ECVs, which will allow equal use of the parks for people who state they are disabled, even if the disability is temporary. There is nothing to stop any person who has no disability from using a wheelchair or ECV.

5. If Disney decided, on its own, to consider the Segway a medical device and allow its use in the parks it would then be unable to stop anybody from using a Segway in the parks, no matter the persons disability (or lack thereof) or level of experience.

6. Related to this one of the biggest problems in the park is small children running around. Many people walking around do not notice some of the small children, or even people in wheelchairs or ECVs because they are below their normal eye and scan level. I have had many times in the parks where I have come to a complete stop and people have walked directly into my ECV because they did not see me. Add the extra foot or so to the eye level of a person on a Segway and they are less likely to notice small children in their path.

7. And last, the Disney rental ECVs have a maximum speed of less than 3MPH, most private ECVs (including the off-site rentals) have a maximum speed lower than 5MPH. The maximum speed of a Segway is 12½ MPH.

8. The current use of Segways in WDW fall into two categories; one are people on a tour who are chaperoned and in areas where there are not many people at the time and the other are CMs who, by nature of their job, need to cover a wide range of territory. And the CMs are very well trained (over a week of training) in the use of Segways and are required to drive slowly.

Until such time (if ever) that the Segways are certified as medical devices I feel that Disney is acting responsibly in not permitting them for Guests (other than in controlled situations).

 

[ROEDISNEY]

No disrespect but they should no way allow Segways in the Park. The tour is over b 4 ppl get into the park. I have done both Segways. Love them. And sure it would be fun to drive them all day. BUT I see this as accidents waiting to happen.

 

[Don Pacho]

Unless I am mistaken, the tours you are speaking of are at World Showcase before that area of the park is open to the public, so you do not have to worry about someone losing control of a segway and running into a guest.

I've seen those tours around Epcot during regular park hours riding around guests

 

[merryweather20]

Once again, we have all of the non-segway people, claiming that the segway is dangerous to use in a pedestrian filled environment. Yes there are reports of Segways having accidents but those accidents involve other Segways, cars and other wheeled vehicles. Show me an accident involving a pedestrian and a Segway!
Do a search on Mobility Scooter accident and see how many deaths, broken legs and injuries you can find.

If disney wants to ban Segways, they have the right but they would have to stop using them also and they make good money from the tours.

Point of information: A segway weighs about 70 pounds, An ECV about 200 pounds.

I have used my Segway to tour the WDW resort areas and I love the paths and sidewalks, especially in the EPCOT resort areas. All the time I was traveling around the Boardwalk, International Gateway and the resorts, I never had anyone tell me I was not allowed or that I should not be there and it was during the Food and Wine Festival when it was busy. OKW resort and Saratoga Springs resorts are connected by wonderful trails and paths but watch out for staff traveling in golf carts as we watched a pair of walking guest dive out of the way as the cleaning staff traveled the path along the river.

Im at a loss as to why I would search for "Mobility Scooter Accident" I'm thinking nothing shows up because no one else calls Segways this

Segways are much higher, with a high centre of gravity, this combined with the much higher speeds makes them much more dangerous. I also doubt the weight information you state you often see people lifting their ECV's into the back of their truck or van, seems doubtful that they wiegh 200 lbs.

 

[MrsToad]

I've seen those tours around Epcot during regular park hours riding around guests

If the times are still the same, I think there are four tours each day with the first tour starting around 7:45 and the last around 9:30. They are two hour tours and the first 45 minutes or so is spent learning how to ride the segway in the Innoventions building. Most of the remaining time is spent riding around World Showcase, which doesn't open until 11:00. The tours do cross paths with pedestrians for a short bit on the way to and from World Showcase and Innoventions.

We own a Segway, are very experienced with it, and know they can be safe; however, I still don't believe they should be allowed in the parks for many of the reasons already mentioned. I think they may be fine outside the parks, but inside it is just too conjested much of the time to risk the consequences of inexperienced operators.

We love riding the Segway so much that we still take the Epcot tour each trip. During the "training" part of the tour, the video clearly tells any CM that may be taking the tour as a guest that this 2-hour tour does NOT qualify him or her to ride unsupervised on Disney property. After the short video, much time is spent learning to operate and stop the Segway and learning that you and your Segway DO take up a bit more room than just your body does when walking. We have seen a couple of inexperienced people fall because they forgot to watch for the curbs and because they lost control going down hill and they couldn't slow down in time. It seems like ECVs and wheelchairs would be less likely to cause the operator to fall or lose control after such incidents, which could be somewhat frequent, given all of the attention distractions that are found in the parks.

I also don't think Disney would have to abandon CM-operated use of Segways, nor the tours, if they continue to disallow guest use of Segways. The tours are supervised and the CMs receive extended training. If Segways were allowed to be used in the parks by guests, I can't see how Disney would be able to retain control over the training that should be required before the devices can be operated unsupervised in the parks, especially with the number of 3rd party vendors that might decide to rent them. Since Disney doesn't currently ask for proof of disability or experience with the devices before allowing ECVs into the park, or when renting them to guests, how would they identify and stop an inexperienced Segway rider from bringing a Segway in?

 

[mitros]

Gee, aren't those baby strollers dangerous enough? Now we have to avoid bigger and heavier faster moving modes of transportation while walking around the parks...................

 

[Don Pacho]

 

[M-I-C-K-E-Y]

The Disney Segways are kept on "turtle" mode, meaning they can only reach speeds of 4 to 5 mph maximum. Segways belonging to private individuals can travel at more than 12 mph. It's a matter of guest safety.

Um...if they are, for the tours, then Disney CMs are the exception. We were practically run down by a CM on a segway just prior to Illuminations, as he was flying at full-speed. Absolutely MUCH faster than four or five MPH.

 

[M-I-C-K-E-Y]

Disney can ban bicycles, unicycles, tricycles, mopeds, soapbox derby cars, and other assorted wheeled vehicles, in addition to roller blades, roller skates, and wheeled tennis shoes. Why are segways any different??

 

[JeanfromBNA]

We did a Segway tour with DCL. One of the tour members lost control of her Segway and was injured (bruises and scrapes). My husband had to pull it off of her from where she had it jammed up against a tree with her leg under it.

We love Segways and have been on a few tours since our first in Epcot, but as Cheshire Figment states, Disney can't demand proof of disability now under the ADA, and I can't see how Disney would be able to check Segway experience unless somebody gives out Segway licenses.

 

[KYMickey]

Once again, we have all of the non-segway people, claiming that the segway is dangerous to use in a pedestrian filled environment. Yes there are reports of Segways having accidents but those accidents involve other Segways, cars and other wheeled vehicles. Show me an accident involving a pedestrian and a Segway!

You're probably connect you won't find many (maybe none) incidents where a segway has injured a pedestrian. However there is a big reason for this, most Segways are not you in areas where there are many pedestrian. Ones that are are driven by highly trained individuals such as the CM's at Disney, police officers, etc. If the gates are once opened for Segways to be used in Disney I'm sure it won't be long before there will be injuries and lawsuits against Disney (not the operators).

I've ridden a segway several times quite proficiently but I certainly wouldn't want to drive one in the crowds at Disney! If you want to see some Segway accidents just take a look on Youtube!

 

[Expert_Glider]

We have seen a couple of inexperienced people fall because they forgot to watch for the curbs and because they lost control going down hill and they couldn't slow down in time.

Making it seem like you are talking about Segway's at Disney is totally false. Disney (for the most part) has no "hills".

This is a farce and didn't happen.

 

[merryweather20]

Making it seem like you are talking about Segway's at Disney is totally false. Disney (for the most part) has no "hills".

This is a farce and didn't happen.

Walt Disney World has many hills, and there are curbs all over.

 

[livndisney]

Making it seem like you are talking about Segway's at Disney is totally false. Disney (for the most part) has no "hills".

This is a farce and didn't happen.

While I understand this is a personal crusade for you. Just because you make a statement doesn't make it true. Disney in fact has many hills of varying degrees. One example is the ramp to the monorail at MK. Another is the ramp to the monorail at EPCOT. Living with the Land pavillion is a continuous hill (to say nothing of the incline to the entrance). The only way to access the lower portion of the building where most of the attraction is is by moving stairway or elevator.

 

[MrsToad]

Making it seem like you are talking about Segway's at Disney is totally false. Disney (for the most part) has no "hills".

This is a farce and didn't happen.

You are incorrect. For example, the Epcot Segway tour takes you through the gardens in Japan; you ride up the hill, over the little bridge, and back down the hill again. The tour also takes you down hill where you cross from France back to United Kingdom. I make mistakes sometimes, but I don't make up stories.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

It is interesting the "Expert Glider" is a new member and the only posts the person has are in this thread and a similar one in the disABILITIES Forum. It appears also that the person may be a member of DRAFT, which for some reason has a political agenda to push the use of Segways. There was a different person (Tarkus) from this organization a couple of years ago whose only posts involved Segways. So this person is really an outsisder and probably no actual interest in Disney.

 

[zeroed]

I don't blame Disney one bit. They have to protect themselves by preparing safety rules designed to save us and them from the lowest denominator of stupid guests.

The park already has too many ECVs crashing into kids or my ankles and mostly driven by folks who are obviously incapable of safely operating them. Disney should test the driver's ability to manipulate controls and steering before renting one.

Can you imagine how long the wait to board your resort bus would be as they load multiple ECVs and Segways? It's already ridiculous as it is.

 

[MartinaC]

Wow, Has anyone posting researched the price of a segway? The chance of 100's of people who own them ending up at a disney park at the same time is highly unlikely. As for renting one, all disney has to do is not allow a rental agency to have an agency on site (downtown disney). I myself have had to hurry out of the way of someone in a ecv numourus times. Motorize anything at disney is a hazard. I think the public thinks you can get these for $199 at the local wal-mart. Do some research. When you purchase a segway you get some instruction time at the dealer as well as an instruction video and manuel. With times the hard time hitting people are just lucky to have the money to get to take a vacation. If disney allowed segways I really don't think that the segway company is going to have an explosion on orders. People don't have the money to buy. Only people that have the need for it are going to make the sacrafice.