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Segway operator tries to get out from under city fines, zoning denial through bankruptcy
By adamg on Thu, 10/10/2013 - 11:47am
The Herald reports Boston by Segway, which has racked up close to $200,000 in city fines over the past couple of years, has filed for bankruptcy protection. It lists the city as its largest creditor, due to the fines for having his tours operate on city sidewalks and in groups larger than allowed by a 2011 ordinance passed by the city council.
This is company owner Allan Danley's second attempt in two months to file for bankruptcy. Last month, he filed for personal, Chap. 13 bankruptcy and listed his largest single creditor as the city of Boston, again due to the fines. But US Bankruptcy Court Judge William Hillman dismissed Danley's request for failing to provide proof he had undergone credit counseling or had insurance on the vehicles he owned.
In March, the Zoning Board of Appeals denied a request by Danley's landlord to legally use what used to be a gas station as a Segway rental office. A couple months later, a Suffolk Superior Court judge denied his request to get the city to knock it off with the fines.
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Comments
Right up there with Chik-fil-A, Walmart, Don Chiofaro
I've never been on a Segway and don't know Allan Danley but watching this play out from a distance, it's clear that Danley didn't "donate" to the right Boston politician(s), and if he did, he didn't give nearly enough. Much like Chik-fil-A, Walmart, Don Chiofaro and other legitimate businesses successful elsewhere, Danley appears to have been targeted by a ruthless, petty and vindictive Boston City Hall. Segway tours are a great concept for a tourist destination like Boston where many places of interest are spread out throughout the city. Instead of helping Danley, it seems that City Hall has done everything to thwart him whenever possible. The ordinance that bans Segways from the sidewalk is pure comedy, since it bans able bodied Segway drivers from the sidewalk under the guise of pedestrian safety but allows the handicapped and potentially more dangerous to use Segways on the sidewalk freely. It's akin to banning the tame old cow from the China Shop while inviting the raging bull. What could go wrong? Only in Menino's Boston. January can't get here soon enough.
Wow, what a load of dribble.
Wow, what a load of dribble.
I'm sure Walsh will be sooo supportive of Segways running down people on sidewalks, I mean that is who Danley is betting on.
http://www.efs.cpf.state.ma.us/SearchItemResults.aspx
Also call me crazy but not having a Walmart in this city is a good thing.
The problem with watching from a distance
. . .is that you don't see much. Danley has run his business in the most abrasive and obnoxious way possible. Complaints about it have come from dozens of North End residents who have experienced his tours clogging already small sidewalks, out-of-control tourists driving directly into the path of pedestrians because they've barely been on the damn Segway for 5 minutes and are now let loose in one of the most densely populated areas of the city, and above all Danley's complete disregard for his neighbors.
I can agree that there are certainly parts of Boston that lend themselves to Segway tours, but Danley's tours are concentrated in the North End and Waterfront areas. I believe there is one that goes to Charlestown, which isn't a bad idea, but it still insists on mowing down people in the windy, narrow streets around the North End. No one without mobility issues needs a Segway to see the North End. And regardless of where they're going, Segways don't belong on sidewalks any more than scooters or bikes.
Conflicted
It's sad to see a small businessperson lose their time, money and sweat, trying to provide a reasonably straightforward and (potentially) inoffensive service, only to be ground down by the bureaucracy.
To be sure, Segway tours were a pain in the posterior. Though no more so than Boston bike tours, duck boats or ordinary two-footed tourists.
You don't know Danley
He's a twit. If you had a bad thing to say about his tours, he'd scream at you and call you names. Other tour companies and "small business owners" are at least receptive to complaints and calmly take criticism.
As a resident of the area, I will be happy when he is gone. Duck tours, bike tours, hell JETPACK tours would be better than his rotten business.
i worked for this guy for
i worked for this guy for several months back in 2011 when this thing started. i left because he told us, his employees, to ignore the new laws passed. he was always extremely disrespectful and egotistical. he would be overly defensive and a wise-ass to the city, and kept threatening them. he cheated on our pay, which one of my former co-workers filed a lawsuit against him for and won. we were expected to be pulling 12 hour shifts with no breaks, no lunch, nothing, yet breaks and lunch were coming ouit of our checks. whenever there was an issue or misunderstanding at work (which was daily, because he was so disorganized), his answer was to scream obseneities at his employees and make ethnic and racial remarks, in front of customers. he never listened to us about ways to make things for efficient. basically he is the worst boss i ever had. and you cant just quit and leave. whenever he sees me he makes sure to call me an asshole and a lazy piece of shit, etc. luckly im never over that way anymore.
way to go, Boston!
Number of peds injured a year by cars, trucks, busses, etc...badly enough to require ambulance transport: 1000+ (aka: 3 or so a day)
Number of peds injured a year by segways: 6? Maybe 12?
Glad to see we have our enforcement priorities straight safety-wise. Ticketing cyclists and segways...
On the Sidewalk
Bicycles and Segways are prohibited from being ridden on the sidewalk and for good reason. If he wanted to have a segway tour go in the street that wouldn't be against the law.
I don't know what urban adventours does but I don't think they specifically take people on guided tours where they ride their bikes on the sidewalk. If they do they should be fined as well.
In the street where?
Segways are such strange, awkwardly amphibious things. They don't belong on the sidewalk, clearly, but they're not fast or agile enough to go safely in the street either. Bring stuck behind one of these tours in a bike lane on those crowded downtown streets is maddening--especially since the tour operator is usually swooping awkwardly around them. I just don't get it--feel bad for the business owner but it just doesn't seem sound or safe.
Delightful News
Just because someone wants to make a buck doesn't mean we have to let them do any stupid thing they care to. Segways on sidewalks unless there is some legit mobility issue for the rider? Absurd! We need another thing running pedestrians down like we need a hole in the head.
Illogical
Are rollerblades illegal on Boston sidewalks? Of course not. But why not, because you can get going faster on rollerblades than you can on a Segway (particularly a speed-governored one like the kind they use on tours with Segway noobs). So, the Segway ordinance has nothing to do with speed.
Now, are foldable shopping carts still allowed on the sidewalks? Of course they are. But why, because some of them can get as wide as 25 inches...which is the same footprint as the Segway. So, the ordinance has nothing to do with size.
Finally, Segways aren't "running down pedestrians". How many Segway-induced injuries have there been for anyone but the operator? I mean besides your cousin's sister's friend.
People didn't like having to accommodate for Segways any more than they have to accommodate for rollerbladers, shopping carts, or anything else that's "in the way" (meaning not theirs). Except only one of those things is actually illegal now.
I don't defend how this guy ran his business at all and racking up huge fines in protest and going bankrupt over it is dumb, but the idea that we put a law in place to run him out of business is absurd. Have you read the actual ordinance? There are about a billion other variations on the Segway that would still actually be legal but as much (if not more so) of a nuisance, because they wanted to run *this guy* out of business by making it impossible to use the vehicles he'd already purchased/invested in.
but but but but ...
Segways are the anti-Viagra! Just seeing one has more indignant old man angrifying potential than three saggers!
We just know it is true!
Meh
If someone set up bike tours, they'd be responsible for keeping people off sidewalks as well. Vehicles don't belong on sidewalks, as simple as that. Especially in the tight and busy corners of Haymarket, Faneuil Hall, and the North End.
If this was the 90's and we had a major rollerblading problem, I don't doubt they'd move to reclass their use the same as bikes and scooters. But we don't, so there's no incentive to do so.
Argue the point, please
Stopping a bike tour from using the sidewalks is not contradictory to my argument that Segways are no worse than other legitimate uses of the sidewalks.
Clearly even Segways are legitimate devices for those "tight and busy corners" since the ordinance says that mobility-impaired riders can still use them without a fine. So, people should stop trying to disqualify the business on the grounds that the technical aspects of a Segway make them implausible for these sidewalks as if they are somehow super special sidewalks. Nobody else, even the ordinance, is trying to argue that.
If you want to argue that 6-7 Segways in a row are some how more arduous and problematic, thus the need for the ordinance, then I could see us arguing over why 6 would be more arduous than 2 or 4 or 1 in a row.
If you want to argue that 6-7 Segways in a row AND multiple tours per day makes it more arduous, then we could argue whether anyone's ever questioned the need for a 5th or 6th bus/duck-boat tour service to clog the street or is this just because it's easier to bully Segway tour companies than street vehicle-based tour companies that want to open up shop in Boston.
There may be legitimate discussions to be had around the appropriateness of Segway tours on our sidewalks, but we're not having them (and as I recall from the City Council discussion, they didn't have them either). We're stuck on "Segways are 'big' (no quantification) and 'in my way' (no qualification) and might hurt someone one of these days!"...which was enough to write a poorly reasoned, narrow-in-definition-yet-over-reaching-in-scope ordinance.
Since most of us don't want to run Segway tours, this is one of those ordinances that will sit around never getting used again but squashing anyone's interest in trying to handle the rigamaroll of insane rules put in place to control the situation:
The police commissioner will license you, probably through the BTD, who has to approve your routes, but you have to also get the Hackney Division to come out and approve a bunch of Segway modifications that are necessary to meet all the guidelines, plus you have to attach your licenses to the front of the Segway like a cab, renew all of this every March without fail, pay whatever fee is assigned without it being pre-defined, then you have to have a safety video to play for your customers, a pamphlet to hand them with all the ordinance requirements in it that the City has to provide you, then aside from your own liability form, the customer also has to sign something agreeing that they will abide by the ordinance requirements, install rear view mirrors on the tour leader Segway, install horns on all of the Segways for passing pedestrians (but you have to stay in the street by the same ordinance...so what the hell is the point of the horn??), buy safety vests for the tour leader that you also have to have BPD approve of, mandatory helmet requirement (but nobody has to approve the helmet choice and there's no mention of what helmet standard, if any, that you have to meet...) too for all customers and tour guides (something bikes aren't even required to do)...
AND if you violate ANYTHING in the ordinance, the Hackney Division can instantly revoke your license if they choose. Oh, and BPD can instantly impound your Segways for *any* violation too.
Yeah...let me just run out and risk starting a Segway tour company that's going to abide by all of that and not go belly up the first time a BTD employee is offended by your presence. I've never heard of a cop sending you to court over something they *thought* the law said even though it totally didn't.
Good thing they didn't ban Segway tours completely, though, right?
I'd love to see someone actually pull all the requirements apart and start making the calls to BPD, BTD, Hackney Division, City Hall...and start asking if all of these things are in place and how much it will cost them in fees for their hypothetical Segway Tour company to get off the ground. It's been over 2 years since the ordinance passed. How much you want to bet the Hackney Division wouldn't even have a clue what you were talking about?
Tight and busy corners
We don't keep trucks from using those, even though they have killed several people in the last couple of years.
A lot more people than segways have killed on sidewalks.
The City doesn't
ticket Cyclists, although they should.
And to compare car vs segways (Which only assholes ride) is plain retarded. How many segways are in the city? A few hundred! Well their are a few hundred THOUSAND cars.
And you don't think this is a problem?
Considering there are only a few hundred thousand residents ...
Besides, I hate to tell you this, but: what your mode of travel is doesn't matter. A person in a car is no more or less important or special than a person on a segway ... the car driver is just responsible for a lot more vehicle and far more damage potential .
No i dont,
seeing that the roads in Boston allow suburban commuters to use them. So while there maybe a few hundred thousand car in the city, not all are owned by Boston residents.
You don't like cars move to the mountains. However im sure you'd find something to bitch about.
Exactly who was complaining?
Talking about you in
GENERAL!
Now now anon
We all know it is kind of chilly beneath that bridge you are cowering under. Perhaps some reading material will help - the bookmobile can stop by and you won't even have to be afk.
Recommended for you:
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http://www.universalhub.com/user/register
Disability slurs
Calling people assholes. These are not a form of bitching.
OMG
One of the most annoying inventions of my lifetime. Don't let the door hit you in the ass on your way our,Mr. Danley.
Businesses 101
When you tell a community to go fuck itself, don't be surprised when you're the one getting fucked.
This guy has done everything he possibly could to antagonize the neighborhood and city, which did have some legitimate concerns on use and safety. It's not surprising they weren't too accommodating to him when his attitude off the bat was telling other people to screw off, I'll do what I want.
Hell, even the people promoting the use of Segways for all manners of things from tourism to disability disowned him. Even the guys selling you a niche leisure product thinks you are bad news...
When everyone in the world is against you, maybe the problem is just you.
Another proud supporter of segregation
That's the attitude that fed it, afterall - the community is always right.
Nonsense
I'm actually pretty anti-Nimby and anti-stupid regulation. I'm also anti-asshole.
A big part of conducting a successful business is community outreach and public relations. Maybe he didn't think it mattered what the neighborhood or city thought, since his customers primarily don't have a stake here. But he was wrong. And he got NO help from anyone while providing ample room for others to have a grudge with him.
It's just stupid business. But if you want to cry foul and whine about how oppressed you are, go right ahead. No one cares. No one sees it that way. Someone else will deal with it and serve your the emand without the drama.
Picking fights with a city and neighborhood is a sure fire way to throw your business away, if not make what you want to do exponentially more difficult. Leave the go at home, at least until you've banked enough capital to let it ride and just look like a rich asshole.
Segways can work if the owners are considerate
In Salem Witch City Segway runs tours without getting any complaints as far as I can tell. They generally use streets that aren't as congested and stay off the sidewalk and tour areas that are a longer distance from the center. They actually go down my street.
Danley also had a Segway outfit in Salem, but left complaining about politics in 2011.
The North End seems like a particularly bad place for Segways, but my point is that Segway tours can work in a city if the routes are chosen carefully so that the Segways can go in the street.
Segways should use the bike
Segways should use the bike lanes only. A tour group of segways is just too big to be safe for busy urban sidewalks. Sorry, kids!
I went on one of their Segway
I went on one of their Segway tours, organized by my office, a few months ago. I was kind of appalled at how the tour and its interactions with traffic were organized - the general approach was for two or three of the tour guides to block traffic somewhere (an intersection, say) while the rest of our large group went through. I suppose it was effective, but it was pretty clearly not cooperating with traffic regulations very well (The parts where we were off of more major streets weren't as distressing).