Road Access - Disability Alliance

Segway use by Persons with Disabilities
=   Use of Assistive Technology

image showing Segway used by 
person with mobility impairment

Segways are used by people with mobility impairments as assistive technology (AT). This webpage and the associated links have been created to provide information about Segways used instead of wheelchairs, sit-down scooters, crutches, canes and walkers.

We hope this information is useful for people with mobility impairments using Segways, for people with disabilities who are curious about using a Segway and for able-bodied folk who want to understand how - and why - we are using Segways.

At the moment, this website is organized into three categories:
1.   Specific details about how people with disabilities use Segways
2.   Tips on how we have solved problems that are fairly common for people with limited mobility
3.   Material that helps decision-makers understand that when a person with disability is using a Segway as a mobility aid, the issue transcends rule-making on the local level.


How can someone with a disability use a Segway?

Segway user in San Francisco

More than one person using a Segway as AT has heard that they "are the only one" or "it's not possible". These statements are not true, but can have negative consequences, particularly when used to attempt to undercut our rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and other civil rights legislation.

In order to set the record straight, we have put together a list, grouped by disability, of newspaper articles, support-group items and personal statements describing how Segways are used as mobility aids.

These articles have helped people with disabilities show others how and why we use Segways. The items have also helped policymakers, who are trying to understand this issue and, at the same time, are attempting to explain it to others.

Tips

Nelda Cox in Portland, Oregon (where she was not stopped by the
local police)

Segway users who are mobility impaired have the same needs for accessories and tools as other Segway users. We also have some special needs. We are putting together materials to show the tools we use and the ways we transport our Segways when we aren't riding them.

Sometimes, we transport our Segways in private vehicles. Many of us cannot lift our Segways. Currently, our page on transport by private vehicles has two example of how we approach this task.

We also take our Segways on various modes of public transit - land, water and air. This link takes you to a page where we explain how we take our scooters on both light and standard rail. This link describes the process of "qualifying" to use your Segway on Metro rail in the Washington, D.C. area.


No, I can't "get down and walk"

John Wodatch listening to Emily Wilcox regarding Segway use by 
persons with disabilities

One of the major problems with using Segways is the hostility generated by some pedestrian activists toward the devices ... and, how that attitude has been incorporated into some local laws.

A well-known example is San Francisco, where the Board of Supervisors banned the use of Segways on sidewalks and transit. This was supposedly done to protect persons with disabilities. However, as we illustrate on this website, some pedestrians with disabilities rely upon Segways as mobility aids.

Even though our use of assistive devices is covered by civil rights legislation (and for San Francisco, that includes California Civil Code), San Francisco legislation does not include any exemptions from the ban. The police officers on San Francisco streets have to enforce municipal code. Other communities considering Segway regulation would do well to avoid the administrative headaches and policing pitfalls created when disability rights are ignored in legislation.

As with our Tips section, organizing our material in this No, I Can't Get Down & Walk section is in a work in progress. So, while we continue to prepare and format material, here's a story of what happened when a police officer was over-zealous in his attempt to save the world from a mild-mannered, mature, woman who happens to have a mobility impairment due to disability.


Potluck

Join or form a Segway Users Group.     Compare the cost of a Segway to the cost of a power wheelchair.


© Rada Project, 2004
August 12, 2004 (Version 2b)