Smith Introduces Segway Legislation
WASHINGTON, March 20–Sen. Bob Smith (R-NH) Wednesday introduced legislation that allows motorized, scooter-like Segway devices on sidewalks and trails built with federal funds in New Hampshire and across the country.
On February 15 Governor Jeanne Shaheen signed a bill that allows the gyroscope-stabilized, stand-up human transponder machines on sidewalks and roads in the state. Smith’s bill would allow Segways on throughways-but not highways-that were built with federal funds. Dick Lemieux, a Concord-based transportation planning engineer for the Federal Highway Administration, estimates that fewer than 10 percent of sidewalks and paths in the Granite State were built with federal funds.
Smith’s legislation would give states and local governments the authority to allow Segways, which are manufactured in Bedford, on federally financed sidewalks and trails if their use complies with their state and/or local laws.
The measure will be handled by the Environment and Public Works Committee, on which Smith is the senior Republican.
The legislation would allow “any self-balancing, non-tandem wheeled devices designed to transport one individual and powered by an electric propulsion system with a maximum speed of 20 miles per hour,” according to a committee statement.
“I want to see people have the flexibility to use these devices like you would use a bicycle or a wheelchair if people feel they need to use them,” Smith said. Laws that Smith said were written “about 10 years ago” ban most motorized devices from federally financed sidewalks, with exceptions for devices such as motorized wheelchairs.
The Manchester Police Department and the U.S. Postal Service are now testing the Segway for use by police and mail deliverers.
Dean Kamen, a Manchester resident and the inventor of the Segway, said in a visit to Washington last month that widespread use of the battery-operated device would reduce pollution and help conserve gasoline. “This is a real alternative that can reduce inner-city congestion,” he said.
Published in The Union Leader, in Manchester, New Hampshire
