I took my first Segway ride in Nice. I'd read about them and was intrigued. When I saw that rides could be had, starting on the promenade in Nice, and going through the Old Town and the market, I booked a ride. We found how heavy they were when we had to pull them down to the promenade. There we were given instructions. It was time to step up. I was slightly apprehensive, but need not have been. The feeling was intuitive. As I stood on it, the machine balanced itself. I practised as instructed. Lean forward and it moves forward. Lean back and it stops. Bend right and it turns right, and so in. It helped that it had a handle to hold on, but I soon found I could control it without that.
It was speed limited by a governor to about 15 kph, but was so easy to control that I could weave around pedestrians with ease, even along the narrow streets of the old town, and through a market crowded with shoppers and sightseers. Curbs were tricky, but OK if you took them square on instead of at an angle. Everyone looked, since they were something of a novelty. I went on them many times subsequently, becoming so proficient that the instructors disengaged the governor and allowed me to ride at an exhilarating speed down the promenade.
How absurd that they are not allowed in the UK, either on pavements or on roads. They are not a problem elsewhere.