A Segway to independence

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J. Mark Rigdon swears by his Segway.

"I'm conserving natural resources," Rigdon said.

Rigdon, who lives in Lakeland, uses it five days a week to get to and from his job at Lockheed Martin.

"Everyone else comes into the parking lot with their car. I come into the parking lot with my car," Rigdon said.

His car only has two wheels and travels far below the speed limit.

"It provides up to four-and-a-half times the normal speed of walking, which is 12.5 miles an hour," Rigdon said.

It's too slow for the road, and that's just fine with Rigdon.

"I'm legally blind, or a better word to put it - vision impaired," Rigdon said.

Rigdon was born with Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP).

"I can only see straight on," he said. "It's like tunnel vision."

Rigdon had a car until 2004 when he decided to give up driving. One year later he bought a red Segway to fill the void.

"It has given me a world of independence" Rigdon said.

He sticks to the sidewalks. But he still faces dangers on his daily commutes down busy streets and through crowded intersections.

"Some drivers are preoccupied and want to just get across, so I have to be really careful and look both ways and then look both ways again," Rigdon said.

He's used to using extreme caution from his lifetime of limited vision.

"My vision may be limited in what I can see, but I want people to see me for my ability and not my disability," Rigdon said.

Rigdon said he has auto insurance on his Segway.

Information from Bay News 9's partner, the Lakeland Ledger, was used in this report.

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