Segway ban in Prague

Segway tours are one of the “must do” of the tourists when they are coming to Prague. These excursions are the most convenient way how to see the city only for couple of hours. Unfortunately, because of the Authorities issues now tourists are no more able to drive on Segway in Prague’s Old Town.

The beginning of issues in Prague according to the ban of Segway

Segway ban mapAll over the world Segway PT became the most popular way of the transportation. And Prague is not the exception, as there were 26 companies providing tours in the historical center.The issues of the segway ban started already in 2012, when locals started to argue about the amount of Segway in Prague’s Old Town (there were around 400 of them). Even though Segway is easy in the control and it is completely fail safe vehicle, a lot of companies did not follow the basic safety rules (like wearing of the helmets) and they did not respect the daily routine of the locals. Taking drunk tourists and small kids who can’t control the machine, driving on roads and regulation were the main arguments of the Czech locals.
Officially the ban of Segway came into effect on 6th of December 2016, as it took 4 years for locals to collect the compromising evidence of people driving on Segway in Prague in not adequate way. Unfortunately, not only the companies that were breaking rules, but also our company (the one that was really strict to the tourists and keep all the laws of the Czech Republic) suffered from the ban adopted by the Prague’s City Hall.

Dealing with the ban of Segway in Prague’s downtown

segway ban prague crazy textEven though the ban of Segway came into effect, some companies didn’t give up and found the solution of banning of the Segway in the Old Town. They started to provide tours in the New Town (Prague 2 – Vinohrady), the area full with the historical sights and beautiful park and panoramic view. Local Authorities invested more than 200’000 EUR in road signs on the streets of Prague, which sometimes (just to say the truth) were installed in the silly places (e.g. the entrance to the cemetery, nearby the banks of the river or the stairs.
From these facts we can see that Authorities was not prepared for the adoption of the new regulations and they basically put official super expensive road signs anywhere just to calm down the local population of Prague. Even though, tourists were still interested in taking Segway tours, they were not aware of changing in the situation, as they couldn’t see any of the signs on the streets of the Old Town.
Dealing with the pressure of the city police and gradual closing of the area of Prague 2, became a challenge not every company can work with. It was a reason why already in the middle of January there were only 3 companies operating with Segway in Prague. Even though a lot of not responsible companies closed earlier, the effect of the style of their driving took a negative effect on the locals’ attitude to the Segway. By the numerous requests of Czech locals, the official closing district of Prague 2 and areas nearby was adopted by the authorities in June 2017.

Founding compromises to the Prague’s ban of Segway

The ban of the Segway in Prague’s numerous districts didn’t force our company to stop working with the tourists and bring happiness to them. Already in the beginning of July 2017 we started to provide tours in the area of Prague 6 (the one, which is nearby the Prague Castle), as professional tour guides built new, convenient and deeply historical routes for both beginners and professionals. Going on segway in Prague Castle and Strahov monastery area we also can offer a routes to the Prague Canyon national park inside the city.
In the downtown we offer electric scooters instead of segways. Driver’s license is not required: that kind of scooters are in the bicycle transport category.
If you not sure what exactly you want you can book a Flexible Tour option – exactly route you will choose in our shop together with your personal guide. Booking deposit or credit card authorization are not required!

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