A few years ago when the Segway was first introduced, it was hailed as the cure-all for urban traffic and we were told to think of it as “serious transportation” (see ad below) instead of just another toy. I took a good look at it and decided it was the most effective way to lose a few front teeth.
The multi-millionaire owner of the Segway company died in a freak accident yesterday when he rode one of the high-tech two-wheel machines off a cliff and into a river.
Former miner Jimi Heselden, 62, plunged into the River Wharfe while riding around his West Yorkshire estate in Boston Spa on a rugged country version of the Segway.
He bought the firm last December and was using one of the machines – which use gyroscopes to remain upright and are controlled by the direction in which the rider leans – to inspect the grounds of his property.
Not the first businessman who took over a business and drove it off a cliff, but perhaps the only one to literally do it.
