Have You Ever Fallen Off Your Segway?

[MowTin]

Beyond the first few weeks when you were just learning have you ever taken a hard fall while on the Segway?

I saw some YouTube videos and in one video the Segway gets on one wheel twists then tips over. I also saw another one where Lech Walesa backs into a Seway and the driver falls off.

I'm worried about falling in public.

[wwhopper]

It is part of riding the Segway.

And when you fall, it will be in the most embarssing of places too!

I always fall off when playing Segway Polo, and it seems someone always seems to get a picture of it!

Don't be afraid, just fall off, and get back on. Just know how much of a fall you can take before riding a Segway. If your bones are very fragile, then a Segway may not be the way to go.

[Mr. Protocol]

Yep, once: when a bicyclist rode right up onto my Segway's platform, from the rear, on Ocean Front Walk. Down I went, busted handlebar, $900 damage, cyclist rabbited. Now I vote against every pro-bike measure that comes along.

[MagiMike]

I have fallen from my segway, I have fallen while walking, I have even fallen while riding a bike.

[Bob.Kerns]

I had my first incident of actually falling OFF my Segway the other day.

This is after about 3500 miles -- so it needn't be common.

I was transitioning from one wheel on very wet grass, the other on pavement. I turned back onto the pavement -- except the turn didn't turn at the rate I expected.

Normally, if you get off balance and you keep the leansteer in front of you (gen 2 only), the platform will just stay underneath you. But that doesn't take into account wet grass under one wheel.

So I fell off. The Segway actually stayed upright, which was kind of a pain because I got my foot trapped. I eventually had to grab it and tip it over on the side to free my foot to avoid twisting my leg off, which would have been embarrassing. As it was, it was embarrassing. I wasn't hurt, but I did scrape up my shoe.

I've fallen a few other times, but they involved the Segway falling. Two were in the first couple days -- once on a VERY steep, VERY dusty hill, when I lost traction. I wasn't hurt -- but then I tried to get up, and I slid DOWN the hill on my hands and knees, and *THAT* hurt! Lesson: The Segway often does better than my feet.

On that same off-road excursion, I also managed to high-center it, on a major rut. I was watching out for that, but it happened a bit sooner than I expected. I've never made that mistake again; I have a better sense of how much ground clearance I have.

I had a bicyclist fall on me once as I went by. He got tangled up in his pedals, and couldn't get his feet freed up, and fell over. I would have gone into the canal, had I not opted instead to dive for the bank, deliberately tipping the Segway on its side in the process so it wouldn't go in either. A minor scrape on my elbow, that time.

My first time on snow, I decided to push it a bit to see how well it would climb a small, slushy rise. Nope. But it did fine (with snow tires) otherwise. I spent the day wandering around the ski resort on 10' snow pack, taking photos, and occasionally pulling my daughter on her skis.

Each of these loss-of-traction events, including the high-centering EXCEPT this grass event, I was expecting possible problems, and I could have chosen to avoid the situation. Instead I chose to test the limits. The grass one, I knew I had enough traction to stay upright, but I hadn't considered the possibility of not being able to steer as expected, so that one caught me by surprise!

And there's one non-standard doorway with a very heavy spring closure I've managed to trip one wheel on twice. That kind of hurt, each time, but I wasn't injured. I've gone through doors probably a thousand times or more -- including ones much narrower, without incident. But on both occasions -- well, it was a bathroom door, and I was in a hurry to hit the bathroom before catching the ferry, and I'd gone through that door so many times before, I got careless.

So, bottom line -- falls can be extremely rare, especially if:

1) The Segway has traction
2) You don't run into door frames while pushing forward hard on the door.
3) You stay away from falling bicycles.

[KSagal]

Yes, But...

I have not fallen off my segway in years, and I have not fallen off my machine when it was not my fault, and by that I mean when I was paying attention to what I was doing... Even when playing or pushing the limits, I have not fallen off, although during the latter I dismount rather aggressively as a lesser of two evils...

I have also fallen off the heels of my cowboy boots, fallen off my bike and even fell out of my bed once... I seem to recall also having fallen off my office chair, though I did not fall to the ground in each of these occasions...

This collection of falls have taken me probably a decade, as I do not fall often, but life includes some ups and downs... Luckily I don't fall down too much or too often... And I fall up even less often...

[GlideGuy]

I took a hard fall a few weeks ago...did a number on my leg/ankle. It wouldn't have happened on my i2...but I was riding my Gen1 at the time.

Gliding down the street, I decided "at the last minute" to take a semi-hard right turn into a driveway...one that had a little step/curb. Right wheel jumps up first, throwing me to the left (due to the rigid upright). As I counteracted and threw my weight to the right, the left wheel popped-up onto the driveway and threw me even harder to the right. I planted my right foot down hard to offset the fall which caused the machine to pull a hard right...so now inertia is taking me over the left side of the machine (forward motion from my direction of travel). I fell..got up hoping nobody saw (I don't think anyone did...but there's a lot of videos to review on youtube, ya know!). I didn't immediately realize I hurt my right leg/ankle...but when I got back to my vehicle to load my Segway...that is when I realized I hyper-extended my leg muscles. Ouch!

Had I been on the i2...the LS column would have remained vertical while the base would have taken the bumps. I would not have been thrown off balance like I was on the Gen1.

[Bob.Kerns]

Originally Posted by KSagal

Yes, But...
I have also fallen off the heels of my cowboy boots, fallen off my bike and even fell out of my bed once... I seem to recall also having fallen off my office chair, though I did not fall to the ground in each of these occasions...

Non-Segway falls are becoming distressingly more common for me. I'll make some move, and my feet will fail to follow in a timely way.

Fortunately, these falls are usually indoors, near something I can grab to avoid hurting myself. I fall on my bed a lot. Outdoors, I'm generally on the Segway, so that type of fall doesn't happen.

[Bob.Kerns]

Originally Posted by Bob.Kerns

Non-Segway falls are becoming distressingly more common for me. I'll make some move, and my feet will fail to follow in a timely way.

Fortunately, these falls are usually indoors, near something I can grab to avoid hurting myself. I fall on my bed a lot. Outdoors, I'm generally on the Segway, so that type of fall doesn't happen.

Not two minutes after writing this, I fell. I did manage to catch myself on a nearby railing.

Compared with that, I do FAR better on a Segway.

[Joushou]

Originally Posted by Bob.Kerns

Not two minutes after writing this, I fell. I did manage to catch myself on a nearby railing.

Compared with that, I do FAR better on a Segway.

Murphy's law doing it's thing, eh?

Never say you don't fall, 'cause then you'll fall!

I may not really belong in the Special needs forum, but i recall a few falls on my Segway too...

The first few days i had to test it a bit, so i decided to follow the most extreme mountain bike trail i could think of... It had been raining, so there was mud. The turf tires on the x2 disliked that, but i didn't fall... What brought me down was something wood being camouflaged by the leaves lying there, which happened to be more than my ground clearance could handle (Seeing it was a very steep climb, so the power base trim was in the way)...

I fell twice during that day, and pushed the batteries to the limit to make it to the nearest train station... Not knowing if there actually were a train station in that direction


Later, i figured out that you can't judge based on the first impression... This time it was a curb... The road was designed so no cars but bus's could pass, and a small bicycle lane with very high curbs allowed bicycles to pass.

The x2 with it's turf tires was a tight fit, but even though i had a maximum of 1 inch on each side to spare. I went through it 3 times without problems, but the first, i got careless, and glode without hands, at full speed, while looking in another direction...

Segway jumped up, stopped fine, and shut down because i was missing. I, however, kept on going at 12.5MPH, and landed first on my shoulder, then my hip, leaving quite a mark.

This was last year, in september i think, and i can still see the marks. It also left it's signature on the battery packs, and when i landed on my shoulder, my backpack hit the asphalt as well, giving my MacBook Pro a beating... It survived (Had to work some magic on the hinge, as it was bent), but damn, if it left that kind of mark on an aluminum laptop, who knows what it would've done to plastic? :/

I'm still oblivious as to why my left shoulder, the top of my backpack, and my hip can scrape along the asphalt, without my head touching as well. I have NEVER fallen and hit my head... (Well, if i have, i have hit it so hard that i can't remember! xD)