Since this does not have four wheels, I assume bike rules apply and it can go on sidewalks

[james_davis_nicoll]

Comments

[oh6]

The lack of audio and the hearing protection the guys in the video are wearing suggest that this thing is stupefyingly loud.

[mishalak]

Also, if you are as evil as me, it has the potential for hilarious failure modes should the pilot fall into one of those fan units.

[dd-b.livejournal.com]

Pretty often the presence of motors makes a big difference in classification. I think in the US the basic rules are at the state level, so there are at least 50 sets of rules. And you don't live in any of them, don't know how it works up there. But the chance of one simple answer is roughly zero.

[johnreiher.livejournal.com]

And it looks like a bunch fun until you fall into the rotors...

No mention of what top speed is and how loud it is. I'd gather that it's fairly noisy, so it would be limited to off road use.

[ritaxis.livejournal.com]

That looks like an utterly annoying and uncomfortable way to get around.

[beamjockey.livejournal.com]

I suspect that you have never been a small boy. VROOM!

[ritaxis.livejournal.com]

(sorry for the late reply, vandals have been cutting our fiber optics cables and shooting our telephone transformers . . .)

I like vroom. But something that doesn't look excruciatingly painful and impossible to park would be nice. Like half the size, and comfy.

[vschanoes.livejournal.com]

By all that is good and decent, bicycles shouldn't be allowed on sidewalks to terrorize honest pedestrians.

[narmitaj.livejournal.com]

In the UK cycling on the pavement has been mostly illegal since 1888 (http://www.portsmouth.co.uk/news/local/hundreds-fined-in-pavement-cycling-clampdown-1-4514128), as an amendment to an 1835 Act, with fines posible of up to £500, though mostly about £30.

I don't think a further amendment has to be made to the current law for hoverbifans; segways aren't allowed (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-12215326)as motor vehicles. But then, the hover-by-fan is not touching the pavement, it is flying above it, so maybe some amendment will have to be made.

[dagibbs.livejournal.com]

In fact, I think by Ontario law, bicycles are not allowed on sidewalks -- they are classified as vehicles.

[rwpikul.livejournal.com]

It's a municipal issue: Some cities/towns allow bicycles on the sidewalk, some don't.

[nathan helfinstine (from livejournal.com)]

In most of the US, cycles are not allowed on sidewalks except for children, plus parents accompanying their cycling children. Enforcement doesn't seem to be prioritized, though.

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

I notice that they don't try flying it over water, which is something that most GEVs etc. should be able to handle. I suspect it would be VERY messy.

[jeriendhal.livejournal.com]

I don't think it would be very practical for city use, but I know now what I want the baddies to use in a live action Jonny Quest film...

[agoodwinsmith.livejournal.com]

Yes.

[scott-sanford.livejournal.com]

Like, +1, etc.

[michaelgr.livejournal.com]

But this thing has NO wheels at all, although it does have a motor and two fans.
What are the rules for air conditioning units on sidewalks?

[scifantasy.livejournal.com]

Paging Lon Fuller and H.L.A. Hart to the white courtesy phone...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hart%E2%80%93Fuller_debate

In the classic example, a statute that bans vehicles from a park is obviously intended to cover cars. A "penumbra" case would be one not considered by the creators of the law, such as a skateboard in the example above.

[maruad.livejournal.com]

I am certain it will fall under the same restrictions as any other hovercraft even if it doesn't have a skirt.

[bedii.livejournal.com]

I think this is meant to be a free flight vehicle rather than a hovercraft. They're clearly using ground effect the way a hovercraft does in this test footage, but this brings to mind some of the Hiller units of the 50's.

[nathan helfinstine (from livejournal.com)]

Indeed, this thing clearly maneuvers by pitching, which is not what hovercraft do.

[maruad.livejournal.com]

I learn something new everyday.

[beamjockey.livejournal.com]

Yes. I predict gohover will show up here soon.

[(Anonymous)]

I suspect you'd get dinged for operating an aircraft without proper license, too close to the ground, in an inhabited area.

Although the thought of a Nicoll Event, involving rotating blades, pedestrians, and possibly cats, is enough to request a warning, if you decide to acquire one.

[rpresser.livejournal.com]

I'd watch that movie.

[catherineomega.livejournal.com]

In fact, I imagine many generations of teenagers would be required to watch it in order to pass driver's ed or health class.

[ice-hesitant.livejournal.com]

It's illegal for bikes with wheels over a certain diameter to be on a sidewalk in Ontario. Highway Traffic Act.

Basically, if it's not a folding bike and it's not a kids bike, it's illegal for it to be on the sidewalk.

I fully expect that this is not enforced, though.

[rwpikul.livejournal.com]

It's not enforced because it's not there, (I just checked). In fact, the only mentions of 'sidewalk' are as part of the definition of 'crosswalk' and where pedestrians should be if there isn't a sidewalk.

There is a prohibition on using a crosswalk while riding a bike, which may be part of what you are thinking of.

[laetitia-apis.livejournal.com]

If bike rules apply, the vehicle can't go on a sidewalk unless the operator is under twelve years of age, or unless there is a sign up specifically permitting bicycles. The sign will --or should-- mention that a bike on a walkway must operate at a pedestrian speed and always yield to pedestrians.

If bikes in your town are found on sidewalks, your middle school isn't doing its job.

[http://users.livejournal.com/krin_o_o_/]

I think experimental aircraft rules would apply.
Or possibly hovercraft rules.
http://hovercraftreport.com/hovercraft-regulations/

[seth ellis (from livejournal.com)]

Remember, kids, it's all fun and games until anything whatsoever happens and everybody dies, is what that video made me think. Probably fun until then, though.

[beamjockey.livejournal.com]

As a wise man once said of another vehicle where the operator stood above madly whirling blades, "You've got to be careful not to fall off. Of course, that's true for any aircraft."

[(Anonymous)]

I'm sorry. I just *have* to say it:

"My hovercraft is full of eels!"


===Awesome Aud - just one more helpless victim of John Cleese.