Washington, DCThe death last month of James W. Heselden underscores a report released around the same time as Heselden's demise that puts the focus on injuries suffered by users of the Segway. Heselden, the British businessman who recently purchased the company that makes the Segway personal transportation devices, was killed on September 26 while apparently touring his property on a Segway.
Researchers at the department of emergency medicine at George Washington University Hospital sought to identify the injuries encountered by users of the self-balancing electric scooters. Electronic Emergency Department medical records were scanned between April 2005 through November 2008 at the hospital.
According to a summary of the research posted on the CNN Health website last month, injuries by users of the Segway appear to be on the rise. For example, in 2006 the hospital identified three cases of Segway injury. That number rose to eight the following year.
In 2008 the number of Segway injuries ballooned to 25 in the first 11 months of the year, and they tend to be severe, according to the lead author of the study, Dr. Mary Pat McKay.
"Several cases involved the rider unintentionally striking an immobile object, including a park bench, a signpost, a light pole, and a tree," Dr. McKay and the authors stated in the report. Ten of the 41 patients (24.4 percent) were admitted to the emergency department. Four had to stay in the Intensive Care Unit for traumatic brain injuries. No deaths were reported in the study, which was released online on 9/27/10, the day after Heselden died, in the Annals of Emergency Medicine.
While McKay acknowledges the number of Segway injuries are small when compared to the high number of injuries that come through the hospital's emergency department every year, the study's lead author said that it is likely there were more cases than the researchers could identify given the lack of a specific code assigned to Segway injuries in the hospital's electronic medical records database.
Besides traumatic brain injuries, the researchers noted that patients also required procedures to repair fractures, Achilles tendon tear, brain contusions, collapsed lungs, and fractured ribs.
"I think what happens is that people are going forward and the top speed is 12.5 miles," McKay said. "Their hands are on the steering mechanism and they hit something, stop suddenly and they fall off. They can't get their hands out to save them. It's not the same thing as falling from standing… We were concerned that it could be as severe as being hit by a car."
The Segway first came onto the American market in 2001 and has been used by law enforcement, tour groups and commuters. Helmets are not required in most areas of the US, although tour groups usually require their participants to wear them.
The Segway was featured prominently in the movie Mall Cop starring comedian Kevin James in 2009. Later that year, Heselden, who said he was a Segway owner himself for some time, bought the company.
A former colleague of Heselden told the CBC radio program "As It Happens" on September 27 that Heselden was often seen on his Segway inspecting his property. He was an avid user of the device. However, on September 26, a passerby reported seeing a man fall 30 feet into the River Wharfe. Police recovered Heselden's body late that morning, together with a "Segway-style vehicle," according to police. No cause for the accident was given.
In September 2006 the US Consumer Product Safety Commission recalled 23,500 of the personal transporters in cooperation with Segway due to a reverse torque glitch.
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