The Segway has come of age, after a judge officially announced that it is a “motor vehicle” and should not be ridden on the pavement.
Barnsley Magistrates’ Court heard the case of R v Philip Coates last week, in which a man was accused of riding a Segway on a pavement, contrary to the Highways Act 1835. His defence was that the Segway did not fall within the legal definition of a motor vehicle.
District Judge Michael Rosenberg referred to the “acid test” for determining whether a vehicle is intended or adapted for use on the road. This was “whether a reasonable person looking at the vehicle would say that one of its users would be a road user”.
Judge Rosenberg said that “Any user of a Segway on the pavement will be tempted, as the defendant appeared to be, to ride upon a road when this is convenient, due to a ‘full’ pavement or for other reasons...I am satisfied to the required standard that the Segway is a motor vehicle and the allegation is therefore proved.”
