GSA: Feds can use Segways to get around

Segways are gaining momentum in the federal government. Four years after President Bush fell off of a Segway and three months after Lurita Doan, the General Services Administration’s chief, rode one through the halls of GSA dressed as a witch, federal employees with disabilities can drive the halls on a Segway. In today’s Federal Register, GSA said it recognizes that people with impairments prefer to use the two-wheeled personal transporters as a way to get around. GSA’s Public Buildings Service issued an interim policy that allows people with certain impairments to use Segways in federal buildings, which are under GSA’s jurisdiction, the notice states. Drivers can go no faster than 3 miles per hour, and they can’t take Segways on escalators. The policy does not cover motorcycles, mopeds, tricycles or bicycles. GSA also noted that the policy applies only to people with a mobility impairment. The rule is only provisional, however, GSA said. Officials will issue a final policy after they evaluate how this one works out. The personal transport vehicles have grown in popularity since they first went on sale in 2002. Segway’s annual growth rate exceeds 50 percent, according to its Web site.