Running on Empty

Philip Karnofsky’s plans to use a Segway -- the two-wheel “human transporter” device that runs on electricity and can turn on a dime -- have hit a speed bump.

Mr. Karnofsky, a freshman in the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences at Cornell, bought a Segway for about $5,000 during his spring break. “I was going to buy a motorcycle, but I thought it would be less useful and less welcome in Ithaca,” he said. Knowing that Cornell requires its students to register their bicycles, he went to the office of commuter and parking services to ask about regulations governing Segway use.

He found that the Segway, though it can achieve a top speed of only 12.5 mph, cannot be used on the Cornell campus, because New York has yet to join the 34 states that have passed Segway-friendly laws.

“State vehicle and traffic law says that only people with disabilities can use pedestrian walkways with ‘electrically driven mobility-assistance devices,’” says Linda Grace-Kobas, a university spokeswoman, who says New York law forbids the Segway from streets as well. The Legislature is considering updating its laws to permit Segway use, but until the law is changed, colleges cannot allow the vehicles on their campuses.

Cornell is not the only university that has prohibited Segway riding. Pennsylvania State University at University Park has also forbidden its students to ride Segways on the campus, despite a state law allowing their use.

Mr. Karnofsky finds such rules frustrating. “Everyone here is so enthusiastic about reducing the number of cars on campus, but then they don’t let me use the Segway,” he says. “Maybe it was stupid of me to ask for permission. Or maybe I should have just gotten a motorcycle in the first place.”

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http://chronicle.com Section: Short Subjects Volume 49, Issue 36, Page A6