Trouble on two wheels
Chief to return soon, but Segway may not
By MACKENZIE BURGER
Community Editor

The Albion Department of Public Safety officers rode Segways at the Festival of the Forks on Sept. 20.

Shortly before the Festival of Forks parade began at 10 a.m. on Sept. 20, Eric Miller, Albion Department Public Safety (ADPS) Chief, was being taken to Oaklawn Hospital for emergency treatment. Preparing to lead the parade, Miller, stationed on a Segway Personal Transporter (PT), a two-wheeled scooter with a top speed of 12.5 miles per hour, had lost his balance and fallen off the apparatus. 

Even after breaking both his arms as a result of the fall, Miller’s incident won’t bring into question whether or not Albion’s lease on the Segway should be renewed this October. Instead, the decision will be based on evaluating the Segway’s usefulness to the department.

Miller will write a memo to the city council discussing the benefits and drawbacks of the Segway in effort to help the council make a decision.

The benefits of the scooter’s use are varied, including promoting positive public relations with community members as they converse with officers driving the Segways and also as a means to quietly access spaces a squad car could not.

“(Segways) were a great assistance when Albion had a wind storm,” said Albion mayor Bill Wheaton. “(The Segways) were able to maneuver around (fallen) limbs and wires (to allow officers) to get in and make sure everyone was OK.”

Miller’s accident, however, is not a lone incident. While statistics regarding documented Segway accidents are unavailable, in Sept. 2008, a NYPD officer sued Segway after fracturing his leg in a crash that “ended his career as a police officer” according to the New York Injury News website.

According to Albion city manager Mike Herman, while all ADPS officers were trained before operating the Segways, accidents can always happen.

“I wouldn’t go out and jump on a motorcycle and ride it without some training,” said Herman, who test-drove a Segway at a conference. “You have to learn the operating principles.”

Multiple Segways were loaned to the ADPS for demonstration by the officers at the Festival of Forks, although the ADPS has had one Segway leased for use by the department since May. At the time of production, Mayor Wheaton was unsure whether or not the ADPS would ask for purchase of the vehicle.

The cost of the Segway is approximately $5,700. According to Herman, during the lease, credit was accumulated for rent paid, which would now lower the total purchase price of the Segway for use by ADPS.

With Albion Chief Miller’s use of arms limited from the fall, he will work from home for next few months. Currently, Lieutenant Dan Strowbridge has stepped in to fill the chief’s position in Miller’s absence to handle what he describes as “mundane, day to day stuff, like payroll.”