Back in 2007, DT posted this Gizmodo photo of a Seattle Segway-riding woman pushing a stroller. While the post and DT readers' commenters were nowhere near as dickish as Gizmodo's, I will follow that site's lead and issue a clarification and apology: the woman's nephew has explains that she was heading off to get groceries while babysitting his daughter. Also, that she is an inspiring cancer survivor who doesn't let the amputation of her lower leg slow her down one bit--though she does use the Segway for traveling longer distances and for hilly terrain.
I Am Very Sorry, Segway Lady [gizmodo via dt readers rolf and josh]
It is indeed a heartwarming story of courage that undercuts the laziness narrative that everyone applied to it.
But, still and all, I have to wonder whether pushing a stroller with a Segway is actually safe. I've never ridden a Segway, so I have no way of knowing the answer to this, but something about it just looks fraught with peril.
Whoops -- just posted this by mistake on the Mommy Mailbag. Sorry, Greg!
You nailed it, JT. Heroic aunt or not, it's a dumb idea to push a stroller while on a Segway. Just look at that angle; the physics are terrible. It's even worse if you consider that a Segway is controlled by the angle of the body.
I'm thinking the groceries could have waited.
JT,
Horseless carriages looked pretty scary to people who rode asses and buggies too.
Curator,
Please, do tell; how many children have been hurt in accidents caused by improper Segway usage in which the person who was riding said Segway had no other safe means of mobility? How many times have you pushed a stroller while riding a Segway? This relentless need to quarterback someone's caretaking and to namecall ('dumb') and to denigrate how someone with both disability and disease chooses to negotiate her life is ridiculous. The child's parents have no problem with this and nothing apparently happened to the child so why don't you direct your line of fire elsewhere.