Segway Company Owner Dies In Segway Accident

Paul Niedermeyer
by Paul Niedermeyer

We’ve followed the ups and downs of Segway since its inventor, Dean Kamen introduced it in 2001 with the following (under)statement: “the impact of this in the 21st century will be just like what Henry Ford did at the beginning of the 20th century.” The Segway, he said, would “change lives, cities and ways of thinking.” Now comes word that Jimi Heselden, who bought Segway this past January, died when he apparently drove one of the off-road Models X2 off a cliff and fell to his death. Accidentally, it is presumed. According to a statement from the West Yorkshire police force, “The incident is not believed to be suspicious.” Our condolences to Mr. Heselden’s family, whose lives certainly have been changed by the Segway.

NYT

Paul Niedermeyer
Paul Niedermeyer

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  • ChesterChi ChesterChi on Sep 28, 2010

    I just checked on Amazon and the prices have come wayyyyy down recently. The Segway X2 costs only $7,300, and the i2 is a real bargain at just $6,129. I guess now sales will really take off.

    • R H R H on Sep 28, 2010

      $7,000 buys you a LOT of used car, or even more motorcycle, both of which will probably get used more on a day to day basis. Yes, I noted your sarcasm :-)

  • APaGttH APaGttH on Sep 28, 2010

    Check the black box, maybe it was an out of control Toyota.

  • Carve Carve on Sep 28, 2010

    I was a huge critic of the Segway when it first came out. The people who bought into the hype started a forum- "theitquestion.com". I got in a lot of arguments...and all my points have been validated. The device just fills this in-between zone where there is very little demand. It's too fast and big for sidewalks, to small and slow for roads, not speed, range, or cost competitive with a bicycle, too heavy to be convenient for those with stairs, and costs as much as a much more substantial machine, like a motorcyle, motorscooter, or used car. What was all the compromise for: For a unique user interface, zero-radius turning, and the abilitiy to stop without putting a foot down. Those just weren't important enough for the vast majority of people to justify the massive cost. I'm sure a similar-performing tandem-wheeled scooter could be made for 1/10th the price, and there isn't much demand for those, either (and those have the advantage of still being somewhat rideable with a dead battery). For the segway to be popular, it has to be a toy that is somewhat useful, and cheap enough for middle-upper class to get as an impulse buy, or as a gift to a kid. Maybe $750, max. I wonder if Dean Kamen, with his huge amounts of wealth, was so accumstomed to money that he really did think $5k was affordable. I wonder what the price would be if they really were building 10k of them per month? I wonder what a cheap chinese knock-off would cost?

  • Disaster Disaster on Sep 28, 2010

    I always figured the Segway was the classic case of "Let them eat cake." You have this gazillionaire inventor with no idea how much a dollar is worth to the average Joe.

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