Unsurprisingly the Segway did not revolutionise transport - I forget the initial selling price... plus the fact that IMHO anyone riding one looks like a complete turnip (I'm not alone in this)
The bicycle vs pedestrian thing is long debated. On the one hand we have some with a desire to allow cyclist some greater level of flexibility in use of the street. Safety is often invoked here, as is convenience. In places the sidewalk may legally be used by bikes. On the other hand, this can be problematic if the sidewalk is used by "a significant number" of pedestrians.
Of course, Safety and convenience are exactly the reasons put forward by alternate groups of cyclists for using the roadway exclusively. This is definitely true where the cyclist seeks to travel at speeds appreciably greater than walking speed that would make it difficult and dangerous to negotiate people and obstacles such as street furniture, poles etc. on the sidewalk - not to mention side streets & kerbs.
Use of the road, of course invokes its own issues of cyclist responsibity in adherence to traffic laws...
Oh, and if you really want to be aligned with pedestrians, you can always hop off the bike and push across that tricky intersection if need be. Car drivers can't do that
