Segway issued the recall after it discovered a program glitch in the Personal Transporter. The glitch can cause users of the Personal Transporter to fall off when they approach high speeds. The Personal Transporter's speed is determined by how far forward the rider leans. However, it is designed to have a top speed of 12.5 miles per hour. If the rider leans too far forward, the device pushes back to prevent it from traveling too fast. The glitch actually causes the wheels to reverse direction quickly, causing riders to lose balance.
So far, six people have reported injuries with the use of the Personal Transporter units. Those injuries include head and wrist injuries.
Segway voluntarily recalled the Personal Transporter, which is also known as the Segway Human Transporter.
The recall affects all Segway PT il67, i170 and il80 models, p133, XT, GT, and i2 models, and all e167 models. These models were sold to both consumers and commercial customers.
Segway is a New Hampshire company. The Segway Personal Transporters were sold at prices between $4,000 and $5,500. All units were manufactured in the United States.
If you own a Segway do not ride it until you have taken it in to have the software updated.