charmed
09-04-2002, 03:50 PM
http://www.governing.com/archive/2002/sep/glimpses.txt
Segway Rolls
As Amazing As The Device Itself Is The Lobbying Effort Behind It.
Even In An Age Of High-Tech Hype, The Segway Human Transporter Stands
Out. The Launch Of The Device, Which Its Makers Insist Shouldn't Be
Called A Motorized Scooter, Was A Nationally Televised Event Last
December. The Segway Quickly Became A Darling Of The Business And
Trend-Spotting Media And Thousands Of People Have Attempted To "Line
Up" To Buy A Segway Through The Company's Web Site, Even Though The
Product Won't Be Available To The Public Until Sometime Next Year.
Nowhere Has Segway's Success Been As Tangible, However, As In State
Capitals. Until Recently, All But Three States Banned Motorized
Vehicles From Sidewalks, But Legislation To Allow Segways On Sidewalks
Had Become Law In More Than 30 States By Summer's End And Was Moving
Forward In Virtually All The Remaining States.
It Has Been A Remarkable Lobbying Achievement, Especially For A New
Company. Most Attempts To Pass Uniform State Laws Move In Slow Spurts,
With A Few States Taking Up An Issue During Any Given Session. The
Federal Centers For Disease Control And Prevention, For Instance,
Crafted Model Legislation For States To Strengthen Their Public Health
Response To Terrorist Attacks And Other Major Emergencies. By July,
However, That Bill Had Been Introduced In Only 19 States And Enacted
In Just Six.
The 69-Pound Segway Allows A Person To Stand Upright And Travel At
Speeds Up To 12 Miles Per Hour. It's 29 Inches Across--No Wider Than
An Average Adult--And Its Combination Of Five Gyroscopes And 10 On-
Board Computers Allow The Rider To Maintain Balance And Control Its
Movements Simply By Leaning. So Far, Serious Use Of The Machines Has
Been Limited To Places Such As Warehouses, Post Offices And Police
Departments.
Segway Llc, Based In New Hampshire, Refuses To Say What It's Spent On
Its Lobbying Campaign, But A Million Dollars Would Be A Conservative
Estimate. The Company Hired Some Of The Top Lobbying Firms In Nearly
Every State And Its Representatives Brought The Machine To State
Capitols, Letting Legislators Take Them For Test Drives Around The
Rotunda. Legislators, In Turn, Expressed Hope That Segways Might
Alleviate All Kinds Of Problems, Such As Cutting Down On Air
Pollution, Revitalizing Downtowns And Providing Accessible
Transportation To The Elderly And Handicapped. In The End, It Seems,
It Was The Dazzling Product Itself That Swayed Legislators. "We're
Going To Have To Outlaw It Unless I Can Ride It," Said Wisconsin State
Representative Dan Schooff, Anxiously Awaiting His Turn In Madison.
According To Matt Dailida, Segway's Manager Of State Government
Affairs, The Fact That The Company's Legislation Passed So Rapidly Was
Simply A Matter Of Short Legislative Sessions. Safety Advocates,
Though, Complain That It Often Came Up Late And Was Usually Pushed
Through With Minimal Hearings Or Testimony. Even People Who Track
Transportation Bills For A Living Say They Were Slow To Catch On To
The Segway Blitzkrieg, Their Own Reading Or Databases Failing To Red-
Flag Legislation Referring To An "Electric Personal Assistive Mobility
Device."
Dailida Says That A Segway Traveling 9 M.P.H. Can Come To A Stop
Within 4 Feet And That A Series Of Safety Tests Will Be Carried Out
Before The Product Will Be Released To Consumers. For The Most Part,
Legislators Were Convinced By Such Company Claims, As Well As Their
Own Comfort Level From Riding The Thing. They Didn't Demand Hard Data
About Reaction Times Or Results Of Crash Test Dummies Taking Blind
Turns. "I've Actually Ridden On One And Can Assure Anyone Of The
Safety Of Them," Says Pennsylvania State Senator Jake Corman. "You
Can't Even Fall Off This Thing, And If You Bump Into Something, It
Stops."
Yet Even If The Rider Is Safe, Advocates For Pedestrians, Children
And The Blind Worry That Bystanders May Get Injured. "There's Not An
Engineer Out There That Would Consider Taking A Quick Joyride Around
The Room An Adequate Test Of Any Motorized Device," Says Gary Smith, A
Safety Expert At Children's Hospital In Columbus, Ohio. In Several
States, Opponents Managed To Amend Bills To Allow Localities To
Regulate Segways, To Impose Age Restrictions Or To Require That
Teenage Riders Wear Helmets. Safety Concerns Raised By The Elderly Put
The Bill On Hold In The California Senate In August.
The Segway Juggernaut, However, For The Most Part Continues To Roll
On Smoothly. Many Legislators Compare Its Critics To Luddites In The
Old Days Who Wanted To Ban Cars Because They Scared The Horses. "If I
Were The One Walking The Street," Says Illinois State Representative
Dan Burke, "I'd Rather Be Hit In The *** By This Device Than By A
Bike."
--Alan Greenblatt
Segway Rolls
As Amazing As The Device Itself Is The Lobbying Effort Behind It.
Even In An Age Of High-Tech Hype, The Segway Human Transporter Stands
Out. The Launch Of The Device, Which Its Makers Insist Shouldn't Be
Called A Motorized Scooter, Was A Nationally Televised Event Last
December. The Segway Quickly Became A Darling Of The Business And
Trend-Spotting Media And Thousands Of People Have Attempted To "Line
Up" To Buy A Segway Through The Company's Web Site, Even Though The
Product Won't Be Available To The Public Until Sometime Next Year.
Nowhere Has Segway's Success Been As Tangible, However, As In State
Capitals. Until Recently, All But Three States Banned Motorized
Vehicles From Sidewalks, But Legislation To Allow Segways On Sidewalks
Had Become Law In More Than 30 States By Summer's End And Was Moving
Forward In Virtually All The Remaining States.
It Has Been A Remarkable Lobbying Achievement, Especially For A New
Company. Most Attempts To Pass Uniform State Laws Move In Slow Spurts,
With A Few States Taking Up An Issue During Any Given Session. The
Federal Centers For Disease Control And Prevention, For Instance,
Crafted Model Legislation For States To Strengthen Their Public Health
Response To Terrorist Attacks And Other Major Emergencies. By July,
However, That Bill Had Been Introduced In Only 19 States And Enacted
In Just Six.
The 69-Pound Segway Allows A Person To Stand Upright And Travel At
Speeds Up To 12 Miles Per Hour. It's 29 Inches Across--No Wider Than
An Average Adult--And Its Combination Of Five Gyroscopes And 10 On-
Board Computers Allow The Rider To Maintain Balance And Control Its
Movements Simply By Leaning. So Far, Serious Use Of The Machines Has
Been Limited To Places Such As Warehouses, Post Offices And Police
Departments.
Segway Llc, Based In New Hampshire, Refuses To Say What It's Spent On
Its Lobbying Campaign, But A Million Dollars Would Be A Conservative
Estimate. The Company Hired Some Of The Top Lobbying Firms In Nearly
Every State And Its Representatives Brought The Machine To State
Capitols, Letting Legislators Take Them For Test Drives Around The
Rotunda. Legislators, In Turn, Expressed Hope That Segways Might
Alleviate All Kinds Of Problems, Such As Cutting Down On Air
Pollution, Revitalizing Downtowns And Providing Accessible
Transportation To The Elderly And Handicapped. In The End, It Seems,
It Was The Dazzling Product Itself That Swayed Legislators. "We're
Going To Have To Outlaw It Unless I Can Ride It," Said Wisconsin State
Representative Dan Schooff, Anxiously Awaiting His Turn In Madison.
According To Matt Dailida, Segway's Manager Of State Government
Affairs, The Fact That The Company's Legislation Passed So Rapidly Was
Simply A Matter Of Short Legislative Sessions. Safety Advocates,
Though, Complain That It Often Came Up Late And Was Usually Pushed
Through With Minimal Hearings Or Testimony. Even People Who Track
Transportation Bills For A Living Say They Were Slow To Catch On To
The Segway Blitzkrieg, Their Own Reading Or Databases Failing To Red-
Flag Legislation Referring To An "Electric Personal Assistive Mobility
Device."
Dailida Says That A Segway Traveling 9 M.P.H. Can Come To A Stop
Within 4 Feet And That A Series Of Safety Tests Will Be Carried Out
Before The Product Will Be Released To Consumers. For The Most Part,
Legislators Were Convinced By Such Company Claims, As Well As Their
Own Comfort Level From Riding The Thing. They Didn't Demand Hard Data
About Reaction Times Or Results Of Crash Test Dummies Taking Blind
Turns. "I've Actually Ridden On One And Can Assure Anyone Of The
Safety Of Them," Says Pennsylvania State Senator Jake Corman. "You
Can't Even Fall Off This Thing, And If You Bump Into Something, It
Stops."
Yet Even If The Rider Is Safe, Advocates For Pedestrians, Children
And The Blind Worry That Bystanders May Get Injured. "There's Not An
Engineer Out There That Would Consider Taking A Quick Joyride Around
The Room An Adequate Test Of Any Motorized Device," Says Gary Smith, A
Safety Expert At Children's Hospital In Columbus, Ohio. In Several
States, Opponents Managed To Amend Bills To Allow Localities To
Regulate Segways, To Impose Age Restrictions Or To Require That
Teenage Riders Wear Helmets. Safety Concerns Raised By The Elderly Put
The Bill On Hold In The California Senate In August.
The Segway Juggernaut, However, For The Most Part Continues To Roll
On Smoothly. Many Legislators Compare Its Critics To Luddites In The
Old Days Who Wanted To Ban Cars Because They Scared The Horses. "If I
Were The One Walking The Street," Says Illinois State Representative
Dan Burke, "I'd Rather Be Hit In The *** By This Device Than By A
Bike."
--Alan Greenblatt