A man has become the first person in the UK to be successfully prosecuted for riding a Segway scooter on a pavement.

Philip Coates, 51, used his Segway motor scooter to travel from his home in Cudworth to Barnsley.

His lawyer had challenged the prosecution's definition of the Segway as a motor vehicle after he was charged under the Highways Act 1865.

But a judge fined Mr Coates £75 and ordered him to pay £250 in costs.

At Barnsley Magistrates' Court on Tuesday District Judge Michael Rosenberg ruled that the Segway was a motor vehicle under the meaning of the law and, therefore, it was an offence to ride one on the pavement.

Mr Coates, of Park Avenue, Cudworth, bought his £5,000 Segway, which has a top speed of 12.5mph, after trying one out during a holiday in Florida.

The unemployed factory worker was also ordered to pay a £15 victim surcharge.

The Home Office levy is paid into a fund aimed at helping improve services for victims of crime.

Mr Coates prosecution has been seen as a test case by users of the two-wheeled transporters.

It has attracted nationwide interest from campaigners for wider Segway use, who say they are effectively barred from using them on pavements if they are classed as motor vehicles, but cannot drive them on roads because they do not pass all the requirements of a motor vehicle.

Segways are legal for use on pavements in more than 30 American states and in Portugal, Sweden, the Czech Republic and in German cities.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-so ... e-12215326

He should have done a bit more research before burning £5,000 of the money he probably needs now he’s unemployed.

I'd have thought they'd be less dangerous than those damn scooters driven by old people.

Surely they should all be in the same category as bicycles which aren't allowed on pavements either?

That's interesting.

We really need the laws in Europe to be better unified. It seems ridiculous to me that something deemed proper and legal in one European city is illegal in another.

Personally I'd like to see things such as bicycles, Segways, mobility scooters and probably horses restricted to designated cycle paths and bridle ways. I don't see them as being particularly "compatible" with the usual traffic of either pedestrian foot paths or roads.

Yes but bicycles are allowed on the road.

Surely those things are too? Everyone can use a road if it's not a motorway, I thought?

No.
If a vehicle is powered it must pass certain requirements to be allowed on the public highway. The Segway fails our Road Traffic law, and thus can only be used on private property in this country.

I've just done a quick Google, and it seems in Germany they must be equipped with front and rear lighting, reflectors, a bell, and an insurance indicator plate. That seems like a reasonable requirement.

We have laws governing lights and reflectors on push bikes. We have lots of laws; we just don't seem to have one that fits the Segway.

There has to be something more then. I can buy an electric bicycle and use it on the road here. As long as it doesn’t go over a certain speed (15mph I believe), I won’t need to tax or insure it.

The Segway is an odd vehicle, and personally I can see problems with them on pavements. It’s bad enough being barged out of the way by fatties on electric scooters already.

Lights would only be necessary at night or in fog so it could be restricted to day light usage. Reflectors and a bell/horn should be added. Insurance should be mandatory. It seems that the law needs to catch up.

Of course fat people should have higher premiums because of all that kinetic energy.

Maybe like HGV's they should also have a higher road tax.