Are Segway Tours Safe? Should You Tour on a Segway?

The world is full of interesting inventions. People use them all the time to navigate the world, do business and even entertain themselves. Commuting and the transportation industry has definitely changed in the last couple of decades. Nowadays, we have gadgets that help us get around, like electric scooters and bicycles. There has been a boom of electric vehicles that are much easier to operate for prolonged periods of time.

But, before these devices, we have had an interesting piece of technology called a Segway. Segways are very fun and practical and they have been implemented in various industries, but namely, transportation and tourism. 

Segways are a favorite for touring cities, particularly ones that have smaller cobbled and paved streets. Some people are worried whether segways are safe enough. 

Fear not, they are safe, but you should still know a couple of things.

Segway Tourism Has Been Around for More Than a Decade

The first thing to note is that the Segway was released in 2001. Ever since its release, it has become immensely popular. People bought a ton of segways, not in weight, but rather in numbers of vehicles. Many segways were sold and it was pretty clear why. 

Segways are self-balancing, so the user does not have to do any balancing at all. When you ride a bicycle or a skateboard, you have to balance all the time. The segway does that on its own, a part of its design.

Given its inherent safety, it has been a part of city tourism for a while. Capital cities in particular enjoy using segways as a method of giving tours. Why, I have personally seen Budapest and a couple of other cities using a segway. 

Why Is a Segway Safe?

Well, to start with, a segway doesn’t need much from you, except to stand still. If you can do that, then you should be able to handle a segway. Segways are then operated by its controls, which you click. You can make it go forward or reverse at a certain speed. 

You can also turn it using the handlebars. It is much safer than a bicycle or any other device that you would have to balance on. This makes a particularly safe device for older people, whose balance is often worse than that of younger people (unless they regularly work out, of course).

When Can a Segway Be Unsafe?

Segways can be unsafe, but the device would have to be faulty for that to happen. Most segways are safe to use, unless the service that is offering them has broken segways. You should check the service offering them for previous reviews, to see if they had any problems. There are always other businesses offering segway tours.

Segways can also be unsafe if you don’t know how to operate them. They can also be unsafe if other people run into you or if you have to operate them in traffic, where others may present a danger to you.

Segways can be safe and most of that relies on you or other people who take part in traffic. Make sure that you learn how to operate the device before going out on the road. If you know how to operate the device, then the only thing you need to do is pay attention to the traffic and other people, which you would be doing anyway if you were in traffic.