This is the text of Lembit Őpik’s adjournment debate speech to the House of Commons on Wednesday 14th January:
Lembit Öpik: To paraphrase Shakespeare, I come to legalise Segways, not to praise them. The evil that machines do lives after them; the good is oft interred with their cogs, and so it could be with the self-balancing personal transporter. My goal today is to change that. I seek agreement to a pathway to determine how this creative, convenient and eco-friendly device may be formally embraced by the UK. I declare an interest. Segway loaned and subsequently succeeded in selling me a self-balancing personal transporter. I have since got so versed in its use that I believe I am now the most well-balanced parliamentarian in the UK, albeit with the assistance of gyroscopes—something I would have welcomed in 2008, but I digress.
I have personally converted 120 British citizens to the personal transporter, or PT for short. Converts include those outstanding presenters Penny Smith and Kate Garraway on that excellent programme GMTV”. All of them have seen how PTs can help with pollution, traffic and even commuter stress levels. In this debate I will explain what a PT is, its benefits and what I hope are reasonable steps for us to take next in pursuit of my ambition.
A self-balancing personal transporter is a celebration of human ingenuity, electrical innovation and the laws of physics. In fact, it appears to defy gravity by mysteriously keeping itself and a passenger of any shape and size upright, with no visible means of support, bar the wheels. But this is no illusion. Twin gyroscopes lie at its heart. The device is controlled by pedals. Without the operator’s assistance, it will not travel anywhere. Once on board, the operator directs it by leaning forwards or backwards on the pedals, and moving the handlebar left or right. It is switched on and off with an electronic key—and that is it. The only transport device that we could think of which is simpler to use is a Space Hopper, the two differences being a smaller choice of colours in the case of the Segway and the fact that one does not hold on to a self-balancing personal transporter by its ears.
I have always wondered what the Health and Safety Executive’s view of an underinflated or, worse still, an over-pressurised Space Hopper might be. It surely carries with it the risk of explosion. No such problem exists with the PT.
As I said, one working example is the Segway PT, a specific model, and I invite the Minister to try one outside the Chamber after our debate. The top speed is 12.5 mph, at which velocity a PT consumes around 190 W of continuous electrical energy. They have a range of 23 miles on a full five-hour charge. Segways were invented by a Dean Kamen and are manufactured in Boston, USA.
Andrew Pelling: I have had the opportunity to see the Segway in operation in Washington DC in the United States, where there are wide sidewalks. Surely it is not a good idea to legalise the operation of Segways here; I cannot see how they will work safely on our roads or pavements.
Lembit Öpik: That is a fair point, but I offer a reassuring answer. First, I use a Segway on the United Kingdom’s roads, and indeed the byways of Montgomeryshire, and not once have I come to grief even though I have the road-based model. Secondly, there are off-road models. If the hon. Gentleman’s roads and paths are not as flat and smooth as those in America, he simply needs to get the version with the wider tyres. He could play golf with that as well. I can see that that reassures him. I have another convert.
I have told the House what PTs are, but that does not begin to describe the miracle that they represent. They are not primarily a replacement for bicycles; they are a replacement for cars. At more than £4,000 each they are aimed at people who know that the average speed of city traffic can be 8 mph, which is 4.5 mph less than a Segway’s maximum speed. Their commuting effectiveness was proved by James Brown’s interesting research at the university of Derby, in collaboration with the BBC. Segways are an antidote to gridlock and are parked in the time that it takes to lean them against a wall.
For those whose work requires them to patrol areas, self-balancing personal transporters have already proved their worth. I am told that 750 police forces around the world use PTs. They are also used at Heathrow airport and other locations around the UK. We estimate that a bobby on the beat can cover three times more area using a PT than on foot patrol.
As for the public, some prefer to walk, and that is fine, but others do not or cannot. Those with mobility problems find the PTs, with their powerful gyroscopes, safe and secure. They are almost impossible to fall off. When I investigated the accident record, I found that one President George W. Bush did fall off one. Segway experts analysed the photographic footage of his misfortune and concluded that the probable cause of his accident was that he had not turned it on. Gentleman journalist Piers Morgan ridiculed Bush for that, and then fell off one as well. Probably inadvertently, he attempted to scale a high kerb, rather as one might ride a motorbike over a wall and then be surprised by the ensuing crash. That President Bush and Piers Morgan are the only two notable Segway casualties on earth should reassure normal citizens that, when used intelligently, this technology is safe.
Environmentally, PTs are absolutely in line with Government targets for carbon dioxide reductions. Personal transporter fuel, which is electricity, causes 16.6 g of CO2 per kilometre. By comparison, let us consider human fuel, known more commonly as food. A beef eater, by which I mean an eater of beef not a Yeoman of the Guard, who could of course be vegetarian for all I know, causes about 497 g of CO2 emissions per kilometre by expelling energy from that food. Egg eaters produce more than 105 g per km, and that does not even take into account the 11.25 g per km that people create merely by breathing. It can therefore be revealed, for the first time in British history and the history of the House of Commons, that it is greener to go to work on a personal transporter than to go to work on an egg—even if you hold your breath.
Per passenger, a London Underground train produces three times as many carbon dioxide emissions, a small scooter four times as many and the average petrol-fuelled car more than eight times as many as a personal transporter. PTs are environmentally unsurpassed by any motorised transport available in the United Kingdom. Car-pooling and public transport are valuable, but PTs take eco-friendly travel to new levels. Even their carbon production cost can be offset.
With more than half a million sales globally, the public have already voted for PTs en masse with their wallets, so what is the problem in the United Kingdom? Understandably, given that this is new technology, the Department for Transport has been cautious. That is fair enough—it is the Department’s job to protect the public from unnecessary risks. However, I can find no restriction in law to bar PTs from Britain’s roads. I believe that we simply need clarity.
To help the Department, we examined every part of the PT in preparation for the debate—the pedals, the wheels and the motor—and they all seemed to conform with the current law. We even tried to test the motor to establish whether the continuous peak power output fell below the notional 200 W limit for electric bicycles on a rolling road. What we discovered was remarkable: the power usage was so low that we could not even measure it.
That is a moot point in any case, because continuous peak power is only a concern in relation to top speed. PTs are regulated to a speed of 12.5 mph uphill, downhill and on the level. Most bicycles can travel faster than that. PTs even have an auto-slow mechanism which operates if people try to travel too fast or the batteries are low. Incidentally, the meagre power usage facilitates the exceptional 23-mile range.
In my opinion, existing legislation does not outlaw PTs. They have an operator to assist them in the form of pedals, modest power usage—in line with that of electric bicycles—and a speed restrictor. Indeed, they are safer than bicycles, because the gyroscopes keep riders upright even when they are not moving. Moreover, riding a PT is easier to learn than cycling. This morning, live before millions of viewers, GMTV presenters Kate and Penny learned to ride a PT in just a minute, never having been on one before. Since November, I have taught people aged from nine to 87 to use a PT. None of them experienced any trouble, and most of them wanted one afterwards! I even conducted a Segway session at my local place of worship in Newtown, the friendly and inspirational Hope community church. Its popularity was, in a word, miraculous.
But now for some shocking news: the PT is wanted by the police. However, it is wanted not for law-breaking but for law-enforcing. Sutton police in London have already tested it and they loved it. Other forces and organisations are also eager. Commander Hussain of the Metropolitan police has said he is keen to conduct a trial of the device. What greater endorsement is needed?
This is what I think should happen next. I ask the Minister to allow trials in February 2009 under section 44 of the Road Traffic Act 1988, following which a report would be made to him in March 2009. He could then make an informed decision in April 2009 about the status of self-balancing personal transporters. When it comes to categorisation, grouping them with mobility carriages is an option, but I think that they should be subject to the same regulation as electric bicycles owing to technical similarities in regard to, for instance, pedal assistance and the limited top speed. Perhaps I could discuss the options with the Minister and his team in the coming weeks.
In the context of mobility problems, congestion and climate change, the adoption of the personal transporter for public use is not only attractive but essential. My goal is not party advantage but public advantage through good decisions based on solid science and fact. I have always respected the Minister for approaching such matters in a similar vein. I believe that he and, indeed, the Government are truly committed to addressing climate changes that threaten our eco-sphere. Now it is time for them to stand up and be counted.
I appeal for courage, and I appeal to the Minister to be mindful of past lessons. The Duke of Wellington said: “I see no reason to suppose that these machines will ever force themselves into general use.”
That was not a 19th-centiury premonition about Segways—the duke was referring to steam trains—but, prophetically, his words echo some of the ill-informed commentary on PTs and, in my view, against progress.
Let us consider instead the words of Anna Bluman, the remarkable and forward-looking marketing manager at Kingdom shopping centre in Scotland. She reports: “we have been successfully using a Segway in the malls for over a year now. The Segway is used in partnership with Fife Constabulary with both Centre Police Officers and security staff using the unit to increase their visibility and effectiveness. It offers a reassuring presence to customers in the malls and also acts as an ‘ice-breaker’, gaining visible interest from members of the public, thereby increasing interaction with security and police officers.”
Here is a final word of testimony from my very good friend, the Parliamentary Secretary Cabinet Office, Mr. Watson. After trying it out only this afternoon, the Minister said, “Yeah, it’s bloody great—really bloody good. I want one.” This caused terror in the eyes of his driver, whose fear of replacement by ministerial Segway even overrode his shock at the Minister’s uncharacteristic departure from parliamentary language.
Riding a self-balancing personal transporter does not end gridlock or global warming, but it is part of the solution—an ingenious response inspired by carbon, convenience and common sense. Working together, we can bring to the UK the benefits of this extraordinary technology, proved by users globally over millions of hours. It is a device that is greener than walking, and wanted by the police. That is my case for the PTs.
In conclusion, the adoption of self-balancing personal transporters may not in itself be as earth-shattering as a moon landing, yet we must never forget that saving our planet will not be achieved through one giant leap by mankind, but rather through one small step after another by every man and woman. Let us take one more step today.
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