Inventor of the Segway Personal Transporter (PT) and iBot stair-climbing mobility device, Dean Kamen, is directing his attention at fighting coronavirus. His company DEKA Research & Development already has inventions in production that will assist as shortages of sterile water and masks increase during coming months. According to the New Hampshire Union Leader newspaper, Kamen has been in discussions with the federal Department of Health about using his Slingshot water purifier deliver sterile water critical for making IV solution. Kamen says: Kamen hopes the crisis will remind people of what’s really important “and that we should be investing in long-term solutions.” Read the entire Union Leader article here. UPDATE 14 April 2020 Dean Kamen doesn't make idle claims, he follows through and delivers. This article New Hamshire buys millions of pieces of PPE for health care facilities by WCAX outlines how Dean Kamen leveraged his personal contacts and business experience to obtain and deliver much-needed PPE supplied for his home state of New Hampshire (the Union Leader story excerpted from and linked to above covers the early stage of this initiative):

Sununu credited businessman and Segway inventor Dean Kamen for spearheading the effort. “We worked around the clock, scoured the earth and left no stone unturned to ensure New Hampshire has the resources it needs to combat this pandemic. Huge thanks to Dean Kamen for facilitating this effort. The state leveraged Dean’s expertise and connections on the ground in China, who helped us find a supplier and get these supplies in the air,” said Sununu, R-New Hampshire. "Our state has not been receiving the PPE it needs and is running dangerously low on supplies. Thanks to Dean Kamen’s leadership, we are all a little safer today,” said Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-New Hampshire.

Dean Kamen bases his R&D facilities and as much of his manufacturing as possible in his home state where he employs hundreds of staff, and of which he is a proud and supportive citizen. Equally, New Hampshire has been an enthusiastic supporter Kamen's high-tech initiatives over the years, including being the first to pass a sensible and comprehensive law to embrace and accommodate self-balancing Segway PT-like Electric Personal Assistive Mobility Devices (EPAMDs) in 2002. New Hampshire has also been prompt to update their EPAMD law as technologies and trends change. Most recently, they expanded it to encompass all personal electric transportation devices, as per the following changes (edited, view full text); original text in <...>, new text in bold italics:

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Seventeen

AN ACT relative to electric personal assistive mobility devices.

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

1 Definition of Electric Personal Assistive Mobility Device. Amend RSA 269:1 to read as follows:

269:1 Definition. In this chapter, "electric personal assistive mobility device'' or "EPAMD'' shall mean a <self-balancing, 2 non-tandem-wheeled> self-propelled device, regardless of the number of wheels, designed to transport only one person, solely powered by an electric propulsion system, with a maximum speed of less than 20 miles per hour.

2 Operation Permitted on Sidewalks and Roadways. Amend RSA 269:4 to read as follows:

269:4 Operation Permitted on Sidewalks and Roadways.

I. An operator of an EPAMD shall have the rights and duties of pedestrians prescribed in RSA 265:34-40.

II. When propelling an EPAMD upon a way at a speed less than the normal speed of traffic moving in the same direction at that time and place, the operator of an EPAMD shall remain on the right portion of the way as far as practicable except when it is unsafe to do so or when necessary to avoid hazardous conditions, including, but not limited to, fixed or moving objects, vehicles, bicycles, pedestrians, animals, broken pavement, glass, sand, puddles, ice, or opening doors of parked vehicles.

3 Violation; Fines and Penalties. RSA 269:9 is repealed and reenacted to read as follows:

269:9 Fines and Penalties. Any person found in violation of this chapter shall be subject to a written warning for a first offense, a $5 fine for a second offense, and a $10 fine for a third and any subsequent offense.

4 Repeal. The following are repealed.

I. RSA 269:5, II, relative to the maximum speed of an EPAMD.

II. RSA 269:8, relative to local regulation of EPAMDs.

5 Effective Date. This act shall take effect January 1, 2019.

A couple of interesting points found in the above law include:

• The maximum speed for devices is 20mph (or 32 km/h), which is a maximum speed for e-bikes found in many US jurisdictions.
• Updated penalties for breaches are firstly a warning, then a $5 fine, then $10 fines thereafter.

The philosophical difference in the approach towards the quantum of fines is a very interesting point of difference between states and countries. For example, in Queensland, Australia the fines for breaching the rider rules for personal electric transportation devices are many hundred of dollars (these are broadly defined as "rideables" and included Segway PTs and similar devices, electric unicycles, e-scooters and mobility devices commonly used by impaired users). In France, e-scooter users are fined 135 Euros for any breach except speeding. Exceeding the permitted 25km/h is punishable by a fine of up to 1,500 Euro fine. That's a big stick! Further, e-scooters can only be used on roads in cities (or on footpaths if permission is signposted, and then only at an unusable walking speed), while use is banned entirely on country roads.