Is riding a Segway scooter on a pavemen illegal?

[anotheoldgit]

http://tinyurl.com/5sco5f7

Should this person be charged for unlawfully riding this vehicle on the pavements, since driving an invalidity scooter isn't?

[New Judge]

I was on holiday in Turkey last year and dozens of these things were to be seen bombing up and down pavements and walkways. I saw two accidents (one quite serious where both the rider and the pedestrian she collided with seemed quite badly hurt).

I don’t know why District Judge Rosenberg is prevaricating. I believe (as others have pointed out here) that the law is quite straightforward and that these vehicles should seek type approval (which they are unlikely to get), and their riders should be covered by Third Party insurance, and they should not be driven on the pavement. If DJ Rosenberg believes the law is complex he should hnad the case over to a bench of Magistrates.

Mr Coates, of course, is bound to believe the thing is safe. That’s because he has not collided with anybody yet.

[R1Geezer]

technically they can't ride the pavements or the road. But cycling is not allowed on pavments either but it seems to be the default, so I reckon they should leave this bloke alone and get the bleedin pushbikes off the pavement first.

[New Judge]

Good point, Geezer.

Personally I've not seen any of these machines in the UK and cycles are a far greater menace. It's probably easier for plod to deal with one Segway owner (who is probably well known locally) than it is to handle the dozens of errant cyclists.