people renting segways the wrong way? -bad for us?

[ftropea]

OK, my turn

Well, like most things in life - there are benefits and disadvantages here..

Rentals are good because people can try Segs out for relatively little money. They can have fun.. share the fun with family/friends.. maybe use the rental experience to help them decide whether or not they want to buy a Seg for themselves.

Rentals are bad because those who rent have nothing to lose if they act in a manner that's perceived negatively by others. They still got their ride.. they didn't spend $5K.. they're insured by the rental company so may feel they're operating with a safety net.

I believe that these things find an equilibrium. If the actions of those who rent Segs cause bans/restrictions, then there will be less places where people can ride Segs for fun/recreation. More restrictions means renting Segs becomes less attractive. Less rentals means lower profits so the rental businesses get taken care of on the other side of the equation.

But maybe Rental companies will become proactive and implement some initiatives to prevent such occurrences. For example, perhaps they'll extend the training time from 1/2 hour to 1 hour or more.

So to me, the Rental Companies are like individual owners. If you lend your Seg out and that person does dumb things on it, it'll eventually come back to bite you.

The only problem is, and I think this is in line with pt's concerns, that eventually a Rental Co. recoups all of its investment (they hope) and possibly even profits from the whole rental business (yay capitalism.) But at the end of the day, if they're forced to close up shop because the business is shot (too many bans/restrictions), it's money made - they liquidate their assets - they move on to their next enterprise - while the individual private owner's Seg collects dust in the corner.

I think it's clear we as individual owners have a lot more at stake here. But just try convincing businesses that they should even care.


Regards,

Frank A. Tropea

Admin - "Keep your wheels on the ground!" - Contact Me

[fredkap]

I agree with most of the above comments. We rent cars but there are few places that rent a Ferrari. I can easily rent an inexpensive sailboat but a $50,000 boat doesn't hit the rental market. If I am going to rent a Segway for an hour, I am going to get the maximum bang for my hour which means pushing it to the extreme with absolutely no regard to the consequences. People rent bicycles because they all know how to ride them. Rentals should be limited to a controlled location so as to not ruin it for the rest of us. When I rent a go cart, they don't let me ride it outside the track. We will all be burned by the rental business which will also create the worst accidents.

Fred

[pt]

but wait...there's more now.

q13 news, who did a cool and positive story on how i commute seems to be running a somewhat negative one tonight about where you can't use a segway (the parks) this was spawned from the rental issues in the papers today. i'll know more details at 10pm when the full story runs.

cheers,
pt



======================

segway ht journal:
http://www.bookofseg.com

other stuff:
http://www.flashenabled.com

[mzokc]

When I talked to the mall staff, I suggested to them if they see a Segway then ask the rider, "Are you using the black key?"

Since the rental companies do not want to lose their ability to rent, using a key at the recommended speed will help. The slower speed may reduce repeat glides, but the rides will take longer - and that increases glide time and profit.

My major concern would be if someone stepped off the HT at our Bricktown canal system and let go. The Metro track wasn't under four feet of water! (Note the canal pictures in the following post.)

http://homepage.mac.com/mzokc/segway/PhotoAlbum67.html

Mark

[wayne]

My opinion is that if someone wants to rent them that is their business. Sure there will be some problems at first but there always is.
As for some of the renters riding places they should not, I'm sure some of us are guilty of that also.
We can't control everyone so the best we can do is try to show the good side of the Segway to the public before a few bad apples shows the bad side.
I do believe anyone who invests 50k or more in a rental business is aware of problems that may come up and I'm sure they are going to do the best they can to keep problems down to a minimum.
As for the training, the seg is the easiest vehicle I have ever learned to operate in 5 minutes. Go-carts, bicycles, motor boats and motorcycle operators are the ones who need training. When a 6 year old kid can operate a seg in less that 3 minutes I don't believe that training should be that big of an issue after what they told you in training was something that could have been taught in 15 minutes. The most important thing is be a safe and responsible operator,that is the only issue that is really important. I do believe a owner of a rental business knows this and knows that his or her business depends on this.
So don't loose sleep over what someone else may do, just do your best at operating the Seg in a safe and responsible way and try your best to teach others the same.

Wayne
Seg-On to a safe and happy future on your Segway.

[pt]

i'm not sure the folks starting rental businesses thought everything out. the folks renting hts in my area thought that riding in the park, advertising their rental service was okay, it wasn't-- now they can't and there are news articles and tv stories about it.

cheers,
pt



======================

segway ht journal:
http://www.bookofseg.com

other stuff:
http://www.flashenabled.com

[GlideMaster]

Well not that it will make a difference but I feel that rentals should be used in a confined area cordoned off like a go cart track or some other configuration.

Also a few minutes of training is by no means enough for the delicate handling of a Segway. Anyone who thinks otherwise has never done much everyday gliding in the real world of a big city. The gliding of a Segway ALWAYS requires your undivided attention.

<center>The GlideMaster</center>
<center></center>
<center>If You’re Not Graceful In Your Glide, You Must Just Be Out For A Ride. </center>
<center>Responsible Riders Ride Segway and Segway Riders Ride Responsibly</center>
<center>Glide On</center>

[terryp]

One of the local renters is a member here. I wonder if he's monitoring this thread and would care to share his views.

Practicing Safe Segs in Seattle

[Sunday]

So how long did it take everyone to learn how to drive a car? I suspect it was longer than 30 minutes. It took me longer than 30 minutes to learn to ride a bicycle too. Seems to me that renting HT's is a very bad idea. I can easily envision a room with a TV and a bunch of chairs. People interested in renting the HT are told to watch the video, sign a release, and then shown how to operate the HT. Then they're off! Hootin' and hollerin' down the sidewalks and through the parks. Then, before anyone can do anything about it, they're banned.


Sunday

[pdantic]

Good comment, GlideMaster!

I've often felt that it would be a good idea to set up a national training / rental registry with a transferable "user rating" card. If someone wants to just try a Segway, they get a short training session and can navigate around a confined area with a black key. They get a card from the rental business stating that they've taken the initial training and have spent a certain amount of time on the HT. If they go to another rental site, they just pull out the rating card and can skip the training the next time. After a certain amount of ride time on the black key, they can get a "stamp" for the right to use the yellow key on certain pre-arranged paths in the area. After more hours of ride time on the yellow key, the rider could finally move up to red key roaming on city sidewalks and prove to any rental agency that he/she has the ability and experience to use an HT under those conditions.

Of course, this would require anyone who is setting up an HT rental firm to be part of the national "rating" organization and all of those rental companies would have to agree to follow the same set of rules... It would be much less work to just make sure that people act responsibly on rental HTs, but that's contrary to human nature!

Steve
The Joy of Segs: http://www.joyofsegs.com