You’d never guess from watching our Commander in Chief try his hand at one of the devices, but apparently it’s not always operator error if someone falls off a Segway! Segway Inc., in conjunction with the Consumer Product Safety Commission, has issued a http://www.segway.com/aboutus/press_releases/pr_091406.html of its Segway Personal Transporters to address a problem which might cause the scooters to unexpectedly reverse direction, causing a rider to fall. Segway will correct the problem through a software upgrade; no hardware changes are needed. The reversing problem can occur when the transporter’s Speed Limiter tilts back the machine to slow it down, then the rider gets off the transporter and gets back on in a short period of time.
“The safety of our customers and our products is our top priority. When we identified this condition we notified the CPSC and immediately began working on a software upgrade to address the issue,” said Jim Norrod, Segway’s CEO. “We have a software upgrade available now for consumers and we strongly encourage our customers to obtain the upgrade as soon as possible. We are committed to making the upgrade process convenient for our customers.”
The recall applies to all Segway personal transporters sold to date, including the i Series, e Series, p Series, XT, FT, and i2 models. (The soon-to-be released X2 is not impacted.) However, what’s more surprisin about the recall is that it apparently only applies to about 23,500 transporters; after all the media attention, hype, and virtue-extoling these devices have received in the last few years, one would have thought more had been sold. Owners can contact Segway at 00/750-6557 between 8 A.M. and 6 P.M. eastern time, Monday through Friday, or register for the a free software update at www.segway.com.
