Of Sidewalks and Segways

The Segway tour people use the streets in the area of the Smithsonians. Specifically, Madison and Jefferson drives. They are not allowed on the sidewalks on the national mall per the National Park Service, hence they take to the streets. Segways are allowed to cross the mall north/south on the streets at 14th and 7th (maybe a couple of other streets, I forget). Segway tours also use the streets of Maryland and Pennsylvania Avenues between 3rd and 1st NW/NE to reach the Capitol.

FYI, related note on making sidewalks safer, I called DDOT and the sidewalk repair included in the Downtown Business Improvement District Streetlight/Streetscape project will begin in the BID area soon. Upper 7th ST NW about November and lower down to INdiana NW December-January. New streetlights in certain places (instead of old ungly 1960′s vintage lights I guess) about same time.

As an employee of a segway tour company in town, I can say that recently, we were kindly told by Metro PD that segway use on the segway would be no longer permitted. Though the majority of policemen from various jurisdictions have voiced their opposition to this rule and its potential implications, we have still moved our operations to the streets. Currently, all our tours are running exclusively on the streets.

Additionally, keep in mind that there are a number of different segway companies in town. Some, such as the company I work for have obeyed for years certain self-imposed restrictions related to group size, maximum speed, and general sidewalk courtesy. Meanwhile, other companies have pursued an “anything goes, lets have fun” mantra which has sullied the idea of segway tours for many of the DC denizens. All this in mind… there has never been a recorded incident with my company of a pedestrian being struck by a Segway.

Interestingly, the rule regarding segways in the Central Business District was passed in the early 20th century (somewhere around 1922) in regards to bicycles. Then, in 2002, just after the segway was invented, the DC council rather quickly amended the whole rule to define segways as bicycles. Then, with all the different police jurisdictions in the city (Capital, SS, Park, etc), it has only complicated the matter even more.

Either way, currently, all segway tours should have migrated to the streets for the time. Any segway tour riding on the sidewalk is breaking the law and will be ticketed by MPD if they are caught, much in the way a bike riding on the sidewalk would be ticketed.

recently, I saw one Segway tour company on 15th Street in front of the Washington Monument. the tour gruop was on the street and not on the sidewalk.

> much in the way a bike riding on the sidewalk would be ticketed.

Sure.

Should the last Segway in rear use a flashing light like bicyclists……..I’ve seen them on 6th approaching Penn Ave and it looks a little risky right now with much slower speeds compared to approaching cars from rear (especially if driver is distracted).

Thanks NA, I had wondered if the police recently began cracking down on segways on the sidewalk. As always the comments to our posts are appreciated.

I am glad that they are cracking down. 10th street near a certain segway company used to be overrun by them on and around the sidewalks in front of the FBI building. As a runner in the area, it had made it difficult to maneuver around them. The tours were about 15 to 20 people. A very large group and when they travel single file in a line, they present a wall to pedestrians until they pass. It has been a few weeks since I have seen them on the sidewalks, so maybe this has been settled. I also saw that they now practice in the old convention center parking lot. That is a much better place for them to practice as it does not interfere with anybody.

I don’t think people get it – people on sidewalks are not – and should not have to be – aware of anyone moving at more than walking speed. People in cars have an affirmative legal duty to keep themselves cognizant of the road around them (front, sideways, and back) at all times. People in cars have an affirmative duty to stay in lanes, and use signals, etc. People on sidewalks don’t. People on sidewalks are not constantly checking for behind them or sideways to see if anyone is gaining on their position – they just move naturally, at their own speed and pace, sometimes in a straight line, sometimes wandering all over the sidewalk. And if all they are expecting on the sidewalk are other pedestrians, that doesn’t create a problem at all. But put something motorized and faster than walking speed – and also something that is fairly silent, such as segway or a bicycle, then suddenly you are transforming the entire dynamic of how people use the sidewalk and that is a recipe for disaster as people just don’t walk as defensively as they do when they drive.
Also, lets not forget that not everyone is young and vigorous – children, the elderly, and the handicapped also use the sidewalks – are we going to put the same burden of the wild west where “anything goes” on them? There are reasons why things moving at speed are kept separate from people who are walking – and breaking down that barrier will only harm pedestrians. Anything moving at faster than walking speed must be kept separate from those who are at walking speed.

I say this as someone not who is anti-bike or anti-segway – but as a runner who has found from experience – close enough to observe close at hand, and not separated by the speed of a car, bike, or segway, that those on the sidewalk are always startled when something comes up from behind them faster than they are.

Next time you are out walking – try and be observant of how much you really are aware of what else is on the sidewalk and whether or not you really bother to look behind you when, say, you drift from one side to the other or walk in anything other than a rigid straight line. And compare that awareness and how it defines your behavior to that when you are driving in a car. Two completely separate animinals. Yet, putting bikes and segways on sidewalks expects the pedestrians to act with the awareness of when one is in a car, rather than walking down the street. And I don’t think that we should be holding the general public to that standard of awareness and behavior.

As for the companies that have been openly flouting the law in the search for profits – good that the police are cracking down – if you can’t run a business and make a profit without breaking the law and encouraging others to break the law, then you shouldn’t be in business.

As for the dude who worked for the segway companies who commented about DC evidently being unfair to segways because of what other jurisdictions have done – that’s a specious and self-serviing argument. Are those other jurisdictions crowded major cities with thousands of pedestrians using the streets as their primary transport? If not, the argument that DC is unfair because of how others treat the problem is especially bogus and self-serving.

Off the soapbox, now…

“But the segway tour companies have ruled the downtown sidewalks since inception”? Really? I wonder how I’ve been able to walk to work with this usurpation. Next thing you know, these segway tour companies will be stopping pedestrians to pay a toll to use the sidewalks that they “rule.”

You know, it’s this kind of hyperbole that keeps PQ Living out of the ranks of serious and meaningful blogs. You’re like the tabloids of city blogs; occasionally entertaining, often lightweight and frequently irrelevant. That’s why I read your blog about as often as I scan a tabloid in the grocery line. Not very often, but every time I do it reminds me of why I don’t.