news The Queensland Police Service yesterday revealed that it would kick off what it said was the first Australian trial of the Segway personal transportation vehicle in pedestrian areas, to test their suitability for police operations.
In a statement, Police Minister Jack Dempsey said the three month trial would be undertaken by general duties officers at Brisbane’s South Bank and the Cairns Esplanade Police Beat.
“New technologies such as segways need to be tested to determine how they can enhance policing and provide better service to the community,” Dempsey said. “Segways have already shown to be useful tools for police overseas and it is great to see Queensland police testing how segways will benefit the community. Segways will allow police to cover large distances faster and more frequently. The areas chosen both have a high population of pedestrians and people enjoying the outdoors making these areas perfect to test how effective segways will be.”
Police Commissioner Ian Stewart welcomed the trial and said he would be interested to see if the personal transporters met the operational expectations of the QPS.
“Segways are used by many police departments and law enforcement agencies in the USA and Europe as an alternative mode of transport for operational officers,” Stewart said. “Police officers taking part in the trial will be comprehensively trained in the safe use of the transporters and the model used has been specifically designed and equipped by the manufacturer for policing applications.”
Stewart said QPS would be the first law enforcement agency to trial the equipment in Australia and the Service looked forward to testing its capabilities in two heavily populated areas. “It will be important to assess the response times and to gauge the community acceptance before we know if the equipment would be a viable option,” Commissioner Stewart said.
The use of Segways is believed to still be illegal in many areas of Australia, and their use is not popular as a consequence. However, Queensland recently became an exception, allowing Segways on public paths from 1 August this year.
opinion/analysis
Cool! We totally live in the future :)
Image credit: Segway. Note: The image above is a stock image and not a photo of the Queensland Police
What next? Police on skateboards?
Wait… Segways are “new technology”? When did they come out? Late 90’s, or early 00’s?
This is Queensland getting sucked in. Segways are actually pretty useless for policing.
They need smooth pathways but it’s awkward to use them in inner city areas because of conflict with pedestrians. Also, if the police need to actually do any policing, they have to leave the Segways unattended.
They can always spend a few hours patrolling bike tracks out in the burbs and piss off cyclists. That’s not a good look. Also the cops pretty quickly realise they look like dags trying to catch a ute on a 30 kmh Segway..
The truth of the matter is that bicycle, foot and mounted police are more useful in inner city areas, and outer areas need cars.
Soooooo…..we’re now getting a CTTC NBN!!! (Copper-To-The-Community; “Nail Badguys Network) :o)
I’d heard they’d changed the law here to allow them (previously, they were a “tweeny” thing, not a car, but not a “scooter” either). Hopefully some companies start renting them out like they do in Europe and I can finally give on a try!
up there with the superfast broadband network in the flood prone drains… and 1950’s cartoons… cue stretched wires across footpaths, hilarity ensues…
“Segway One to base. Suspect got away. He ran down some stairs and evaded us. Segway Two is proceeding on foot. I repeat, proceeding on foot.”
This all fine and well as long as their not using the Off-Road version or using it near cliffs…
XD
Funny that it took so long to get a run anywhere in Aust (due to laws commented above)
They are banned in public areas of Victoria
As a road UNREGISTERABLE vehicle they were banned from all roads, as they count not conform to any basic safety requirements.
Also banned from footpaths etc due to issues with pedestrians and anything else
The only place they were allowed were private land and parks, open areas etc
Still a toy.
(and has anyone confirmed who’s paid for the promo?)
D
I couldnt care less about the segway and how dopey it makes the oinkers look, however the fact that at least one State is starting to up date the Laws regarding allowing new types of vehicles on the roads is of interest to me. Maybe soon we will be allowed to drive things like the Renault Twizzy and the Lit C-1.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renault_Twizy
http://litmotors.com/
Didn’t Campbell Newman claim there was a budget emergency in his state? Where is the money for this equipment coming from?
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