120 Lbs Of Irony (And Rotors And Gears And Polycarbonate)

The wealthy British businessman who owns the company that manufactures the Segway was been found dead in a river in northern England, hilariously after apparently falling off a cliff on one of the vehicles. C'mon, you know that's awesome.

Jimi Heselden (62) and his Segway were found in the River Wharfe, and he was pronounced dead at the scene. A witness reported seeing a man fall over a 30 foot drop into the river. It kinda makes those racing flames on the side seem a little garish now. Police added the incident was not suspicious, which means that they do not believe anyone else was involved, and that his death is still laughable.

Heselden bought control of the American-based company just in December, with a fortune made through his development of a successful blast wall system that replaced the sand bags used to protect troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. The company has been under scrutiny before for it's safety, though it is not believed that the this was anything more then pilot error. Back in 2006, all vehicles were recalled because of a software problem that could cause its wheels to reverse direction. President George W. Bush and TV host Piers Morgan are among the many who have been injured by the machine, and there are countless Segway mishaps on YouTube.

Here is a conveniently timed list of ironic deaths, y'know, for further reading...