http://ajw.asahi.com/article/behind_news/social_affairs/AJ201504250038 Segway electric vehicle to hit public roads in July April 25, 2015 by Ryuji Kudo and Takuro Yagi
[image https://d13uygpm1enfng.cloudfront.net/article-imgs/en/2015/04/25/AJ201504250038/AJ201504250039.jpg Residents ride the Segway personal mobility vehicle during a trial run in Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture. (Asahi Shimbun file photo) ] The Segway PT and similar personal mobility electric vehicles will finally be humming down public streets nationwide in July. The transport ministry gave the green light on April 24 that will allow the use of the small, slow-moving vehicles on public roads, although guidelines and conditions have yet to be determined. The decision comes after three years of test runs in Ibaraki and Aichi prefectures that resulted in no accidents or major problems. The ministry will enter into discussions with the National Police Agency about rules and regulations that will need to be implemented. Among the conditions likely to be included will be a system to certify the use of the vehicles and the placement of guides along sidewalks to prevent accidents. Until now, Segways and other upright personal mobility vehicles could only be operated in administrative areas designated by the central government. Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture, received such designation and trial runs of the Segway have been conducted on Tsukuba roads since June 2011. Trial runs have also been successfully held in Toyota, Aichi Prefecture, of Toyota Motor Corp.'s Winglet, a device similar to the Segway that is currently not available to the consumer public. The ministry said it plans to certify the vehicles in the same category as small special vehicles, such as tractors or small forklifts, or as engine-powered bicycles as long as the vehicle has a width of 70 centimeters or less and a maximum speed of 10 kph. Local police stations in Tsukuba and Toyota have issued permits for the use of the vehicles on sidewalks along roads with widths of 3 meters or more. The two cities also require the placement of guides along the sidewalks to prevent accidents. Similar conditions are expected to be required when such vehicles are allowed on roads in other locations of Japan. [© THE ASAHI SHIMBUN] For EVLN posts use: http://evdl.org/evln/ {brucedp.150m.com} -- View this message in context: http://electric-vehicle-discussion-list.413529.n4.nabble.com/EVLN-Segway-EVs-allowed-on-public-jp-roads-sidewalks-after-July-tp4675272.html Sent from the Electric Vehicle Discussion List mailing list archive at Nabble.com. _______________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org For EV drag racing discussion, please use NEDRA (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA)
