Segway crashes multi-million-dollar wheelchair in demo

A prototype for a Segway "transporting pod", it’s multi-million-dollar wheelchair, has crashed during the first public demonstrations.

The Segway S-Pod was on display at the 2020 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas on Thursday when the accident happened.

According to the BBC, a journalist who was riding the machine accelerated into a wall.

The pioneering personal transportation firm describes the S-Pod as a "safe, self-balancing vehicle that is operated by an intuitive assistive navigation panel".

The S-Pod, which was inspired by the geospheres in Jurassic World, does not require the rider to physically lean forward or back to accelerate or slow down. It relies on "an adaptive centre-of-gravity automatic control system" that uses a knob to change speed and direction.

Its maximum speed is 24mph (38km/h) and it is expected to go on sale early next year.

"In no way is a [malfunction] a total loss. It is still a sign to the public that the company is close to the finished product," said Ross Rubin, principal analyst at Reticle Research.