This morning the Consumer Product Safety Commission announced a recall of the Segway Human Transporter after three riders were injured falling off the devices when the batteries were low. In May, Tad Friend rode a Segway around the streets of Paris, giving it a generally positive review:
The Segway is not always perfectly intuitive: You can’t step off the machine and walk away or it will take off and then topple; the kickstand breaks easily; it’s a pain to line up the holes in the wheel well so you can thread a bike lock through them; the battery recharging light is impossible to see unless you kneel and crane your head sideways; and, as there are no shock absorbers, your calf muscles quiver after an hour’s ride. On the whole, however, it is a wonderful machine.
