While riding around his North Yorkshire estate on a Segway, [Jimi Heseldon] reportedly drove straight off a cliff and into the River Wharfe. A spokesperson for West Yorkshire police confirmed his death: "He was pronounced dead at the scene."
source <--- warning, web site may be poorly behaved
Heseldon did not invent the Segway, he just bought the company last year. His company was primarily engaged in defense contracting.
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Did he do this on purpose?
"Did he do this on purpose?"
No reason to suppose so. Those Segways are battery operated and all electric. Should the battery die, or an electrical fault start, there is no way you can balance on the two wheels especially if you are moving forward.
He may have also just misjudged, or got too close to he cliff panicked an made the wrong move.
He was just two tired.
jaf: It does not say. I was thinking it kind of looked like he did.
Stacy, brilliant and evil.
Or the guy could have been suffering a stroke or heart attack at the time and had no control as he went over the edge. At least in this case there should be ample forensic evidence to rule out that hypothesis (or confirm it), unlike the case of Steve Fossett - we know nothing of Fossett's condition at the time and only know that the weather conditions were not good for the maneuver he may have been attempting.
Either way, it's not the world's greatest marketing ploy.