Pre-emptively Preparing To Sue Segway

from the why-wait? dept

And people wonder why lawyers get a bad reputation? Found over at GMSV is the news that the incredibly overeager lawyers at the USA Immigration Law Center have put together a website pre-emptively getting people ready to sue Dean Kamen for his Segway invention. The fact that the product has barely been released and that nothing bad has happened via a Segway doesn't seem to phase them. They have put together one of the funnier lists (honestly, reading it made me wonder if this is really a parody) of things that could possibly go wrong with the Segway, making it subject to a lawsuit (that the fine folks at USAILC will be drooling to file). Included in the list are such terrors as: people will get drunk and ride the scooter, kids can ride the scooter, people might steal the scooter, and Americans won't get enough excercise if they ride the scooter. Not one of these examples is an actual problem with the scooter itself, but with how it is used. Someone misusing the Segway doesn't make the Segway something that should be sued (especially before anyone's even used the damn thing).
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  • identicon
    Jon, 2 Aug 2002 @ 10:09am

    I dont get it

    1. Where are people going to safely ride It?

    "It" goes at speeds of 5-17 miles an hour. If people ride this jalopy on the street, they will be the bane of drivers everywhere. If people riding the Segway get hit on the street by a car, motorcyclist or possibly even bicyclist, they run the risk of sustaining serious bodily injury.

    Imagine going out for a jog one day on the sidewalk and seeing it barrel towards you in the opposite direction. Some people hate skateboarders, imagine how angry people will be at It.

    I can easily ride my bike at 10 MPH, yet no one complains when i do that on side streets or the sidewalk.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Bruce Wright, 2 Aug 2002 @ 11:00pm

      Re: I dont get it

      I've been run into on purpose by a speeding segway. I've had it run over my foot. They aren't as dangerous as a bicycle or even a jogger.

      Running into someone or something makes it tilt upright. Tilting upright stops it immediately. The segway stops before the intertia of the rider and the device meets the pedestrian.

      The tires are soft and large. Getting one with a person on it to roll over your toe is less painful than that same person stepping on your foot.

      Segways are far more controllable than bicycles. I've seen segways travel in elbow-to-elbow crowds at Disneyland with no mishaps. Try that on a bicycle without putting a foot down. I've seen segways ridden indoors in crowds at .2 miles per hour. In elevators. Try all of those on a bike. They aren't remotely the same.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Shelby Garrison, 26 Sep 2002 @ 11:06am

      Re: I dont get it

      I think this is a great invention and you sir need to put your energy towards something else. People run the risk of sustaining serious bodily injury getting out of the shower, if we outlawed everything that had the potential to be dangerous what kind of world would this be? Skateboarders are annoying becasue they damage curbs, thier boards go flying off to hit cars, and they don't have good control. The segway is not a daring sport like skateboarding. Get a grip buddy.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    2Lazy2Register, 2 Aug 2002 @ 11:22am

    Well, as they say on their own site...

    no one should ever over-estimate the remarkable creativity of human stupidity.

    Replace 'human stupidity' with 'lawyers greed' and I think that says it all.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Jon, 2 Aug 2002 @ 12:02pm

      Re: Well, as they say on their own site...

      or.. Never underestimate the power of very stupid people in large groups.
      or... Make it idiot proof and someone will make a better idiot.
      or..........

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    steve snyder, 4 Aug 2002 @ 4:27pm

    And some one misusing

    filesharing shouldn't make all filesharing illegal right? You people who who steal and use things for other than their intended purpose, like playing a CD over speakers so others who didn't buy the rights to listen to it can hear it. Or watching a movie with a group of people.
    We're gonna get you,
    Hillary R. & Jack V.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    np, 5 Aug 2002 @ 1:58pm

    it might be a joke

    That site has been up and running since last December. But it might be just a joke - not set up by a real law firm.
    Although it's true that some people would like to use any excuse to sue others, especially companies.
    Neuroprosthesis News

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    James, 20 Aug 2002 @ 11:53am

    RE: website for lawsuits against segway!

    That ranks up there at the top as for as stupidity goes! It pegs the stupid scale. To say segway will be responsible for how someone operates one... we don't sue auto makers because someone drives after drinking, we don't sue auto makers because we are getting fat from driving 3 blocks down the street to the nearest convenient store instead of walking. What is the difference? We don't have websites to sue bicycle makers or skateboard makers. I guarantee more people get hurt on skateboards and bikes each and every day than will ever get hurt on a segway. The only reason this law suit web site has been created.... and before the things are even for sale to the general puplic I might ad.... is because it is predicted that in less than 5 years, Dean Kamen will have more money than Bill Gates. Just lawyers way of trying to get a piece of that pie. It is a shame to see all the greed out there.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    ROFL ATDEM, 8 Nov 2002 @ 6:23am

    Parody

    OMG! Are you sure that wasn't a parody?
    If that wasn't then they should be banned from society for being a hazzard of contagious stupidity.

    Children the elderly and the feeble minded might take them seriously.

    If you accept their reasoning, then we must immediately NURF America.

    I hope they didn't write that with a pencil.
    It's possible that given their level of reasoning, that they would drive it into their brain through accident, or lure of its potential fit in orafaces.

    Ok, maybe keep the pencils, but for the children's sake take away their license to practice law.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    tomas garcia, 10 Apr 2003 @ 3:34am

    No Subject Given

    may be next step is suiting sports shoes manufacturers because while footing on the sidewalks can run over pedestrians, or a 3 year old kids puts on his father�s shoes on an falls off, or drunk walkers put shoes on while walking home drunk. who knows?

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    j walck, 18 Sep 2006 @ 6:01pm

    segway injury

    my segway bucked me off on jun 22 06. my tib/fib bones were broken/pulverized in spots at the ankle. two surgeries and 11 weeks later i am in a walking boot with full recover far off. i have an appointment with my lawyer this thursday.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    j walck, 18 Sep 2006 @ 6:22pm

    segway injury

    my segway bucked me off on jun 22 06. my tib/fib bones were broken/pulverized in spots at the ankle. two surgeries and 11 weeks later i am in a walking boot with full recovery far off. i have an appointment with my lawyer this thursday.

    link to this | view in chronology ]


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