Segway Vs Dog: Segway inventor taken down by a dog-walker

It’s rough-terrain ready and has an eco-friendly fuel system but one thing the whizzy futuristic gadget couldn’t do was make way for a dog without sending its rider plummeting backwards over a cliff.

Sounds like a dog-walker was the inadvertent cause of the Segway accident that took the life of their British owner: Jimi Heselden.

The tragic story of the inventor of the Segway boss dying in a Segway-induced plunge off a cliff top is well-known.

But it only emerged today at the coroners inquest into the death that Heselden was being polite in letting a dog and its walker pass by him on the cliff-top path. BBC says:

“Dog walker Sean Christie told the Leeds inquest he was walking his dog on September 26 last year and spotted Mr Heselden at the top of a steep incline. Mr Christie said that he saw the businessman move a short distance backwards in a reversing move he assumed was to make room for him to pass.”

We need to establish right of way paths for segways before the geeky gadgets go widespread. Oh yes and they probably need to be a cheaper too…. The cheapest model – the i2 costs about £5000.