UK bans Segway

The Times reports that:

The Government has declared that the Segway Human Transporter — a £3,000 self-balancing scooter — cannot be used in any public place. […]
In Britain the Department for Transport has welcomed the scooter with a double- whammy, invoking the Highway Act of 1835 to ban it from pavements and EU vehicle certification rules to keep it off roads.

In a document, Regulations for self-balancing scooters, the department says: “You can only ride an unregistered selfbalancing scooter on land which is private property and with the landowner’s permission.” It rejects proposals that the Segway should be treated like the faster electric bicycle.

It says: “A self-balancing scooter does not meet requirements [for electric bicycles] as it cannot be pedalled.”

So that’s that, then.