This is painful to watch. So embarrassing.

Usain Bolt wins race, is taken down by rogue Segway (http://mashable.com/2015/08/27/segway-trips-usain-bolt/)

Was I the only one that tracked the fall of the video camera that the guy on the Segway was holding?

Andrew

Clearly Segway drivers should be licensed. He could have killed someone!

The man who invented the Segway, Jim Heselden, was actually killed in an accident on one.

He went over a cliff into the River Wharfe in Yorkshire. How and why has never been fully explained, but the theory was that he was taking avoiding action near a dog-walker and mis-judged his manoeuvre.

According to Wikipedia Jim Heselden made his money elsewhere and bought Segway, he didn't invent it.
Interesting story though.

According to Wikipedia Jim Heselden made his money elsewhere and bought Segway, he didn't invent it.
Interesting story though.

You are quite correct! A bit too much local pride from me here, I think. He was a local lad made good, and the legend just grew. I never checked beyond what the local newspaper said.

He actually invented something far more useful - the HESCO Bastion used to re-inforce river banks, etc., and also used in Afghanistan as defensive walls. These are steel wire cages filled with boulders.

These Segways sound like death traps. Should be banned altogether.

This is China we are dealing with. No Steadicam arm, just a string based stabilizer cause cost efficiencies are key for them. (Yes, this was an event in Beijing)

The qualifications likely are only towards the camera side. The Segway side probably had to have been learned on site the day of. You sometimes have to cut corners to make it happen.

If you flew in cam ops, that's a whole different story, but likely these are locals that had camera experience but no segway experience.

Modified Segways, cut down to knee control, with Steadicams are used every week on the NRL football shoots down here. An average video and the wrong aspect but it gives you the idea:

FloMotion Segway Demo 1 - YouTube

But things do go wrong sometimes, like on the cricket :))

Cricket TV Steadicam Blooper - YouTube

Chris Young
CYV Productions
Sydney

I also tracked the camera man who fell, and was left behind by the third guy who ran to Bolt........ Poor camera man.