Segway Company Owner Dies In England After Falling Into River On The Unique Two-wheeler

[Kadie]

Segway Owner Dies After Falling Off River Cliff
Segway Company Owner Dies In England After Falling Into River On The Unique Two-wheeler

(AP) LONDON (AP) - A wealthy British businessman who owns the company that makes the two-wheeled Segway has been found dead in a river in northern England after apparently falling off a cliff on one of the vehicles, police said Monday.

The body of 62-year-old James Heselden and a Segway personal transporter were found in the River Wharfe and he was prounced dead at the scene, West Yorkshire Police said.

Police said a witness had reported seeing a man fall Sunday over a 30-foot (9-meter) drop into the river near Boston Spa, 140 miles (225 kilometers) north of London.

"The incident is not believed to be suspicious," police said, indicating that they do not believe anyone else was involved.

Heselden, who bought control of the New Hampshire-based Segway company in December, made his fortune through his firm Hesco Bastion Ltd., which developed a system to replace sand bags to protect troops.

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[HiFructosePronSyrup]

1. Didn't they advertise these things as impossible to fall off of? Whoops.

This isn't the same guy who said we'd need to "reinvent cities," is it?

[liberal N proud]

3. Did he drive the segway over the edge?

[northoftheborder]

7. W fell off his segway.

[SpiralHawk]

2. "What a klutz. Smirk." - xCommander AWOL (R)

[Booster]

4. Wow. That's not good for future ads.

[Greyhound]

5. Some jokes write themselves. n/t

[kenny blankenship]

6. Unsafe at any speed.

[seabeckind]

8. Always thought it was a dumb idea

It was a gadget. Seems like a scooter would be more stable.

[Lint Head]

9. I guess you could say he segwayed

into the afterlife.

[Poll_Blind]

10. Oh man. I'm not laughing but this technically merits a :rofl: icon.

The ironing!

PB

[Historic NY]

11. I find walking off a cliff preferable.....Segways are for the lazy walkers.

[TexasObserver]

12. That's what he gets for messing up the spelling of a good word.

It's SEGUE, but now a generation will misspell it.



I hate to find humor in it, but it's hilarious that he invented something to replace walking and ran off a cliff with it.

[blogslut]

14. He's not the inventor

He's just a deceased money guy.

Dean Kamen invented the SEGWAY - the name being a homophone of segue.

[TexasObserver]

16. Bought the company that messed up a perfectly good word.

Strange segue into the afterlife.

"Segway - If you own one, you have too much money" should be their slogan.

[arbusto_baboso]

13. Guess he shoulda made it amphibious.

That's all I'm sayin'.

[Cetacea]

15. Dean Kamen is a genius.

Kamen has worked extensively on a project involving Stirling engine designs, attempting to create two machines; one that would generate power and one that would serve as a water purification system. He hopes the project will help improve living standards in developing countries.<1><2> Kamen has a patent issued on his water purifier, U.S. Patent 7,340,879, and other patents pending. Kamen claims that his company DEKA is now working on solar power inventions.<2>

Kamen is also the co-inventor of a compressed-air-powered device which would launch a human into the air in order to quickly launch SWAT teams or other emergency workers to the roofs of tall, inaccessible buildings.<3><4>

However, Kamen was already a successful and wealthy inventor, after inventing the AutoSyringe, a new type of mobile dialysis system for medical applications, the first insulin pump, and an all-terrain electric wheelchair known as the iBOT, using many of the same gyroscopic balancing technologies that later made their way into the Segway.

During his career Kamen has won numerous awards. He was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 1997 for his biomedical devices and for making engineering more popular among high school students. In 1999 he was awarded the 5th Annual Heinz Award in Technology, the Economy and Employment,<7> and in 2000 received the National Medal of Technology from then President Clinton for inventions that have advanced medical care worldwide. In April 2002, Kamen was awarded the Lemelson-MIT Prize for inventors, for his invention of the Segway and of an infusion pump for diabetics. In 2003 his "Project Slingshot," a cheap portable water purification system, was named a runner-up for "coolest invention of 2003" by Time magazine.<8> In 2005 he was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame for his invention of the AutoSyringe. In 2006 Kamen was awarded the Global Humanitarian Action Award by the United Nations. Kamen received an honorary "Doctor of Engineering " degree from Kettering University in 2001, an honorary "Doctor of Science" degree from the University of Arizona on May 16, 2009, and an honorary doctorate from the Wentworth Institute of Technology when he spoke at the college's centennial celebration in 2004, and other honorary doctorates from Bates College in 2007 <1>, the Georgia Institute of Technology in 2008, the Illinois Institute of Technology in 2008 and Plymouth State University in May 2008. Kamen, "One of the world's most prominent and prolific inventors", received the prestigious Stevens Honor Award on Nov. 6, 2009, given by the Stevens Institute of Technology and the Stevens Alumni Association.