Skip to main content

Segways Illegal in Copenhagen

Vélo Hommes - Cycling Chaps in Paris
Update:
Segways are now legal. But only because the people of Copenhagen need something to laugh at. And that handful of Americans a day looking so hilariously out of place on their dork machines in the world's best city for cycling - and a walkable city - are just the ticket. Seriously. We mock you.

Segways look like something out of a cancelled Jetsons episode and should never have evolved from a drawing on paper to a working model.

The Danish police don't seem to fancy them either. They're cracking down on Segways in Copenhagen. A company Segway Tours CPH have been running Segway tours of the city. 399 kroner, according to their website. They've been running the tours for a year or so.

(You can rent a bike and get a guided tour with Bike With Mike for only 260 kroner, enjoying a wider radius of sightseeing and fitting in with the local population instead of sticking out like a sore, geektech thumb)

But Segways are illegal in Denmark. They're not approved by the Danish Transport Authority.

So it wasn't odd that last week the Danish police cracked down on a Segway tour. The riders... or I suppose we should call them 'standers'... were instructed to walk their machines back to the tour office and the company was told that they would get a fine if they were spotted on the streets again.

According to an article in the Danish daily, Politiken, Segway Tours CPH bought nine Segways for 400,000 kroner when they opened. They had expected the approval from the Transport Authority to take six weeks but it's still in the process. Three years and counting. The problem is how to categorize the vehicles. Sidewalks? Bike lanes? Roads? Where do we put them? What ARE they?

Another Segway company in Copenhagen has halted operations until closure is reached in the case. The police have not cracked down on Segways before because most police officers weren't aware of the lack of approval. But now the police are on it.

Fortunately, there are ample opportunities to rent bicycles in Copenhagen if you're coming for a visit. When in Rome, do as the Romans do.

It's green, it's cool, it's safe and easy.

Via: Politiken (in Danish)
Labels:

Popular posts from this blog

Overcomplicating Winter Cycling - Why It's Bad

One of the main focuses of this blog has always been on how Copenhagen and other cities have succeeded in increasing cycling levels by approaching the subject using mainstream marketing techniques. Tried and tested marketing that has existed since homo sapiens first started selling or trading stuff to each other. Modern bicycle advocacy, by and large, is flawed. It is firmly inspired by environmentalism which, in turn, is the greatest marketing flop in the history of humankind. Four decades of sub-cultural finger-wagging, guilt trips and preaching have given few results among the general population. When sub-cultural groups start trying to indoctrinate and convert the public, it rarely ever succeeds. For the better part of a century, people all over the planet rode bicycles because they were quick, easy, convenient and enjoyable. In hilly cities. In hot cities. In snowy cities. After the bicycle largely disappeared from the urban landscape because urban planning s...
Read more

A Walking Helmet is a Good Helmet

At long last logic prevails. A new campaign has hit the streets of Denmark, thanks to the visionaries at The Danish Road Safety Council [Sikker Trafik] and Trygfonden [an insurance company]. Intense promotion of walking helmets for pedestrians has begun. This logic has been sorely missed. These two organisations have happily promoted bike helmets but pedestrians suffer just as many head injuries, if not more. This Danish campaign poster reads: "A walking helmet is a good helmet" "Traffic safety isn't just for cyclists. The pedestrians of Denmark actually have a higher risk of head injury. The Danish Road Safety Council recommends walking helmets for pedestrians and other good folk in high risk groups." The slogan is catchy in Danish since it kind of rhymes. All in all it's a brilliant project. Let's save some lives. The new walking helmets will be available in the Danish Cyclists Union's [Dansk cyklist forbund] shop. Although, as the...
Read more

Driving Kills - Health Warnings

I think it's safe to say that we have a pressing need for marketing cycling positively if we're to encourage people to ride bicycles and begin the transformation of our cities into more liveable places. Instead of scare campaigns about cycling [a life-extending, healthy, sustainable transport form], wouldn't it be more appropriate to begin campaigns about the dangers of automobiles? Many people in car-centric countries no longer regard cars as dangerous. Maybe they realise it, but the car is such an ingrained part of the culture that the perception of danger rarely rises to the surface of peoples consciousness. Sure, there are scare campaigns for cars out there, but what if we just cut to the chase? Much like smoking. Only a couple of decades ago, cigarettes were an integral part of life, whether you smoked or not. That has changed radically. We think that we could borrow freely from the health warnings now found on cigarette packs around the world. In order to be tho...
Read more