A mobility scooter crashed into me

[Invalidusername88]

Sitting in a cafe nearly finished eating and this mobility scooter tries to get through the gap between my table and the wall. The frame of the scooter hit my table, she carried on going, the table spun round and sandwiched me against the wall, the table digging into my stomach with her still going. I was genuinely worried it wasn't going to stop but eventually it did, a few people including security came running. I was ok apart from a swollen arm and bruises. My memory is a bit blurry now but I think she took out the table and chairs behind me too.

Not sure what I'm looking for here apart from other people's opinions - has anything like this ever happened to you? If this had been a small child they would have been seriously injured. Similarly if I was pregnant this wouldn't have been good. Nothing against mobility scooters previously although a lot more wary now 😂

You know perfectly well why ! But mumsnet seems to think ableist nonsense is fine so I'll bow out.

Thats nice of you to blame me for driving correctly and not read where I said I am invisible. The person in question wasnt in front of me, but decided to move to a place to stand still and chat to her mate right in front of me not even looking if someone was walking or driving. To be exact I was coming down a ramp for wheelchairs and mobility scooters and she stood right in the way of the exit. I did repeatedly ask her to move but like a lot of people they can niether see nor hear disabled people. I did stop before hitting her but couldnt avoid her bag. Or was I meant to wait for however long, and stop again if someone else wanted to stand in front of me. Never mind there was a queue of people in wheelchairs and mobility scooters behind me also held up.

But hey ho, we dont matter if our bodies dont work normally.

Yes, you wait rather than barging into people!

It would be nice if people were moving out of the way though - just the way they would for abled people.

Disneyland last year was fun. Entire families, two or three abreast riding slowly down pinchpoint walkways chatting to each other and crowds walking in a procession behind them. Small kids clinging to the front of their parents scooters. I saw so many staff stop several scooter riders to tell them to remove their children from the scooters as it was dangerous but most immediately put them back on and went on their way.
The one that stunned me the most was a family of around five or six, all had their own scooter. They just stopped outside a ride, jumped off and actually raced each other to the queue line leaving a row of abandoned scooters in the way.

my local town is a breeze compared to that.

Well most people will move out of other people's way, whether disabled or not! Most people aren't arsholes.
Some are cunts of course, be they pedestrians, mobility scooter users, wheelchair users, cyclists or motorists.

An elderly man, in the town where my relative lives, reversed into two elderly women, one at a time, and sent them flying. He tried to claim he was having a diabetic crash. You can see in the video it was deliberate.

I may need one myself before too long because of worsening arthritis, but would willingly have some training first to be able to use it properly.

https://www.newsshopper.co.uk/news/16293989.welling-hit-and-run-two-elderly-women-run-mobility-scooter/

Am I a terrible person for laughing while reading this? 🥴

hope you’re okay though!

Just yet another thread demonstrating why people with disabilities are hated. One incident and we are all tarred with the same brush, and it's an excuse for a pile on to show how awful disabled people are.

Oh get over yourself. Oversensitive, much? People are sharing their experiences, same as they do on every thread. People of all abilities do need to accept their limitations. If the spaces in the shop are too small, carefully reverse out and shop somewhere else. Is it fair? Of course not. But most 5yr olds have realised the world isn't fair. Being disabled doesn't give people the right to be selfish. Riding a mobility scooter in an unsuitable place, at unsuitable speeds, or when you lack the mental and physical capabilities to safely operate one, is selfish. If it means you can't go outside, that's sad, but it still doesn't mean your desire to do so trump's other's right to be safe.

Maybe my virtually blind neighbour should carry on driving like so many with insufficient eyesight do these days because not having use of a car is a massive inconvenience where we live, I mean, they can still see the road and get to their destination so what's the problem, right?

I'm a disabled person who uses a mobility scooter! I don't hate disabled people. I hate entitled dickheads, of which the world has far too many.

The OP was pinned between the wall and the table by her stomach, it's hardly a small bruise on her arm like she just knocked into it. Why should she just let it go? At what point should someone be spoken to about their use of a mobility scooter when they're no longer capable? When they've broken someone's bone? Caused a miscarriage? Given someone a head injury from being knocked down? Killed someone? Personally, I draw the line at not being able to judge whether you and your vehicle can safely fit through a gap, not being able to feel when you've hit something, not having fast enough reactions to be able to stop something instantly that's only moving relatively slowly the moment something isn't right. Oh but you'll lose your independence, you say? Well, yeah. It's called old age, it's called disability, it's called life. And no, it isn't fair. People do need to accept reality though.

Oh gosh OP that sounds awful. I hope you are OK now. I agree there is a sizeable minority of mobility scooter users who are an absolute menace. As a person with a disability myself,I can't walk very fast and I certainly can't jump out out of the way of someone zooming towards me or behind me on a scooter,but I have had this happen on several occasions. Then they have the audacity to shout at me as if it's my fault that they"ve nearly run me over!

Well said!

Sorry,that should have said 'Well said' Maria Ashley.

The vast majority of people on mobility scooters are fine. They slip in and out of our view with no issue at all. I think they are like cyclists... you only see the bad ones.
As an able bodied person, I try my best to accommodate people on scooters when I see them.. I open doors, move out the way etc.... but I wont lie here... a lot of people on scooters expect me to move in a dramatic fashion, or they let me get out the way and not say thank you at all.
Mobility scooters are a way that many need to get out and about.... but some of them now are bigger than 250cc scooters..... and they still expect to be in shops and cafes on them.

SOME people don't move out of the way for anyone - I walk to/from work on a canal towpath and some people happily block the entire width having a chat or letting their manky dogs sniff each others bums or walk/run/cycle towards you side by side blocking the path as if you're invisible. I've even had a few over entitle mobility scooter couples coming side by side and not going into single file to pass me. Perhaps if a mobility scooter rider can't make their voice heard to say "excuse me" loud enough, they should buy and fit a bike bell or horn from Halfords!!

Really excellent post MariaAshley 👏👏

That’s sounds awful op.
I’ve just left a shopping centre where there was a lady flying along on a disability scooter.. I had no idea how quick they could go ! Myself & other shoppers looking at each other in disbelief as she whizzed along.
Do they need to be designed to go that fast ?

I had a relative who used a mobility scooter. She could barely see and wasn't mentally competent. She wasn't allowed to go out unsupervised, until she got her scooter, then her nearest and dearest were quite happy for her to go into town, 30 minutes away on the scooter, crossing major roads all by herself.

I do think there should be some sort of driving test before you're allowed to get one.

Mobility scooters can be a menace to other disabled people such as those with visual impairments and those with mobility problems.

Just like any other wheeled vehicle used on pavements, except that the risk of injury is so much greater due to their larger size and weight.

. Being disabled doesn't give people the right to be selfish. Riding a mobility scooter in an unsuitable place, at unsuitable speeds, or when you lack the mental and physical capabilities to safely operate one, is selfish. If it means you can't go outside, that's sad, but it still doesn't mean your desire to do so trump's other's right to be safe.

100% this.

And being a led body doesn’t give you the right to exclude people from daily life.
As most 5 yo already know , excluding people based on their disability isnt on. When spaces are designed in such a way that people with mobility issues can’t access cafes, restaurants, small shops, then the issue is with the society as a whole, nit disabled people been entitled.

So campaign, hold protests, raise petitions, put in complaints etc. To get the equality disabled people deserve. What isn't ok is ramming a disability scooter into a too small space and injuring someone because you're frustrated by inequality.

Thats exactly what I’m doing now by raising awareness to people who clearly do not have the experience.

And hoping that somehow they’ll get the difficulties.

Im not going out to do a protest though. I’m close to housebound and only get get out of the house when needed 🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️
Which is tge obvious and massive issue with telling people with disabilities yo hold protest etc… many of them simply cannot do that because if said disability….

@Invalidusername88 wasn't excluding anyone; s/he was sitting having their lunch in a cafe when someone rammed their mobility scooter into her table and injured her.

Anyway, it wasn't a case of the user being excluded from the cafe. They were in there! They were driving it badly. If I go into a cafe with my pram, I don't expect to fit through every possible gap between tables; I judge where I can manoevre without injuring anyone. Ditto my mother in her wheelchair.

Sorry that must have been a shock! My mum was knocked over by one a few years ago, clean broke both bones in her leg dislocated her ankle and as she went flying and landed on her arm she broke that too 🤦‍♀️ all in a local park - she then ended up in one 🤣🤦‍♀️ she’s fine now but I know she was very shaken as it came from behind and she’s so much more cautious now!

Ow! That's not funny at all. It's painful enough just breaking an arm 🤦🏽‍♀️
Your poor mother!