Segways

Busted!

An alert citizen uses Citizens Connect to praise an unidentified city worker:

The gentleman in blue seems to be offering tourists on Segways citations as souvenirs of their tour. Boston Gliders should be ticketed every time they use the sidewalk and this is a good spot for it. They use the sidewalk for a large part of every tour but try to hide on the harborwalk, puopolo park, behind the aquarium, fan pier, where they think there is no enforcement.

The city banned Segways from parks and sidewalks in June; the owner of Boston Gliders, of course, promptly sued.

An annoyed citizen reports:

Segway traffic jam at Christopher Columbus Park! Large Segway tour group blacking steps & monopolizing pedestrian plaza riding practice laps. Aren't Segways illegal in pedestrian areas and parks?

The City Council adopted Segway restrictions in June, but said enforcement would have to wait until after transportation and police officials came up with specific regulations that include on-street lanes Segway tour operators can use.

Boston Fire and Boston EMS both confirm this account that a woman sustained serious enough injuries falling off a Segway Sunday evening that she needed transportation to a local hospital:

The formerly healthy rider was just taken away on a stretcher, on a backboard, in a neckbrace, bleeding.

Spokespeople for both departments, however, did not have additional information on what might have caused the fall, around 6:20 p.m. by Joe's American Bar.

Last week, the City Council voted to severely restrict Segway use by people without disabilities in Boston, citing the potential menace to senior citizens and other pedestrians. Two days later, however, a Segway tour company operating out of the North End sued over the regulations, saying in part the council could offer no proof the two-wheeled vehicles were unsafe.

The City Council today unanimously adopted a new set of regulations that will limit "electric personal assistive mobility devices" to routes approved by the city transportation department.

People with disabilities will not have to register their Segways with the city or obey the new ban on Segway use on sidewalks and plazas and in parks - but will have to carry proof of their disabilities and will not be allowed to ride more than two abreast.

The measure is aimed mainly at operators of Segway tours - whom some councilors have said pose a growing threat to pedestrians, particularly seniors and parents with strollers - but the restrictions will also apply to non-disabled people who like Segways enough to buy one on their own.