The tide is turning for a much-maligned personal transportation system, with the Segway starting to appear on Australian streets, on our footpaths … and in our caravan parks!
While they are still considered outlaw vehicles and are only allowed on private property in most states, Queensland lifted its ban on the personal transporters last August last year … and others may soon follow suit.
From a grey nomad perspective, it is easy to see the potential appeal of having a small, easily transportable secondary mode of local transport available … particularly for motorhomers.
According to some in the industry, things are already starting to happen.
“We get grey nomads who pop them on the back of the Winnebago,” said Segway Tours Australia manager Melissa Gale. “They use them to get around caravan parks and small towns.”
Segways are now permitted on footpaths in Queensland, and the options for fans of the two-wheeled transporters are also expanding elsewhere.
The Courier-Mail reports that some tourism operators have already fought red tape to seek special exemptions to run Segway tours in several cities.
In the past year, tours have launched in Hobart, Perth, Townsville, on the NSW South Coast, adding to a number of Segway operations already running across Australia, including on the banks of Canberra’s Lake Burley Griffin.
City tours are set to start in both Melbourne and Darwin this year, with rule changes having been flagged for both cities, while in Newcastle, tours are slated to launch on Nobby’s Beach.
The concerns of some over the safety of Segways has not been helped by the fact that the owner of the company that makes Segways, Jimi Heselden, died in 2010 when he plunged off a cliff while riding one of the vehicles.
However, Segway Townsville owner-operator, Simon Wood, whose company has just started national park tours, told the Courier-Mail most critics were ill-informed.
“I don’t mind people criticising the Segway, but they should hop on one first,” he said. “It’s actually a fantastic way of getting cars off the road.”
He said the low-emission vehicles were great for eco-tourism such as the wetlands visits his company runs. And he expects other states to follow suit in lifting bans on Segway use.
“I would think Queensland is a bit of a trial at the moment and the other states might be looking closely at it,” Mr Wood told the Courier-Mail.
Segways carry a price tag of almost $10,000.
Would you consider taking a Segway on your Big Lap? Would they be better than towing a small 4WD, or taking a bike? Have you seen one in use? Comment below.
At $10000 I think I will stay with my electric bike conversion costing under $1000 with a battery that can do around 40 klm distance . Fits nicely on the rear of the motorhome. Easy to lift up and down being aluminium.
Legal in all states to ride on shared pathways.
Interesting article… until I got to the price tag. No thanks.
Oh goody! Another thing to fall off . LOL
I’ll stick to my $500 pedal bike thank you. I will get more exercise.
My Electric bike will do me too…I watched a Video on these and young Bucks were even falling off
I have a Motor Home and a Chinese mini Segway copy called the Robin M1, it weights only 18 KG, will do 15kph, and will travel 30km on a single charge, and it cost only $3,200 I use it to get around while camping, and it goes cross county as well. Great bit of gear.