Siding with the SegwayIN YOUR editorial "Minibike roadblock" (Sept. 7), you sided with the rich guys: Dean Kamen, who has spent heavily to legislate his motorized scooter onto sidewalks in 41 states, and the people with $5,000 to buy a Segway.
The Massachusetts Legislature is poised to pass a bill that would ban minibikes and Segways from Massachusetts sidewalks. Segway opposes the bill because it wants to give its customers the public sidewalk to ride on. You say pedestrians should put their trust in the Segway design, which discourages recklessness. But a pedestrian would be very foolish indeed to trust a Segway operator passing from behind at 12.5 m.p.h., four times faster than the average adult walks. When someone exits a store or a bus into the path of a Segwayer in a hurry, the laws of physics take over and pedestrians of all ages are the likely victims. I applaud State Senator Jarrett Barrios's willingness to stand up for pedestrians and hope the legislature will take this opportunity to protect mini-bicyclists, Segwayers, and pedestrians alike.
ASTRID DODDS © Copyright 2004 Globe Newspaper Company.
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