Why lug your bag around with you if you bag can lug you around? This thing is ridiculously fun and gets so many looks and questions wherever you go! So how does it work? What's it like riding around the city on one of these? Flying on a plane? And well how does this whacky luggage scooter / electric vehicle work?
Rolling suitcases were invented in 1970, when Bernard D. Sadow applied for a patent that was granted in 1972 as United States patent 3,653,474 for "Rolling Luggage". The patent application cited the increase in air travel, and "baggage handling [having] become perhaps the single biggest difficulty encountered by an air passenger", as background of the invention. Sadow's four-wheeled suitcases, pulled using a loose strap, were later surpassed in popularity by rollaboards, suitcases that feature two wheels and are pulled in an upright position using a long handle, and were invented in 1987 by US pilot Robert Plath.
Sadow attributes the late invention of luggage on wheels to a "macho thing" where "men would not accept suitcases with wheels". Others attribute the late invention to "the abundance of luggage porters with carts in the 1960s, the ease of curbside drop-offs at much smaller airports and the heavy iron casters then available."
Passengers are allowed to carry a limited number of smaller bags with them in the vehicle, these are known as hand luggage (more commonly referred to as carry-on in North America), and contain valuables and items needed during the journey. There is normally storage space provided for hand luggage, either under seating, or in overhead lockers. Trains often have luggage racks at the ends of the carriage near the doors, or above the seats if there are compartments. There are differing views between North America and Europe in relation to the rules concerning the amount of baggage carried on to aircraft. In North America there is considerable debate as to whether passengers carry too many bags on board and that their weight could be a risk to other passengers and flight safety. US airlines are beginning to introduce weight and size restrictions for carry-on baggage. Whereas in Europe, many airlines, especially low-cost airlines, impose what is commonly known as "the one-bag rule". This is a restriction imposed to stop excessive weight on board and airlines claim that this policy allows them to speed the boarding of the aircraft. Airports in Europe have mounted a campaign with the European Commission in an attempt to overturn these hand luggage regulations. They claim that it is affecting their duty-free and other airport retail sales and is reducing their revenues.
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