to think that mobility scooters should not be allowed on pavements after one fractured my foot crashing into me today?

[Wigglewoo]

I was out with my ds 9 weeks earlier about to cross the road outside my nearest tescos when a very elderly lady in her mobility scooter came alongside me and proceeded to cross the road with me. For reasons known to her she then zig zagged in to me causing me to fall over and then dragged me into the kerb, with her still failing to apply the brakes despite me screaming at her to stop. I luckily managed to push the pram with ds in it half onto the pavement and out of the way (it could have been really very nasty had I not).

The woman still did not apply the brakes and to cut a long story short my foot was crushed between the kerb and her moving wheel, which then drove over me and only stopped when I effectively pushed her nearly over.

She said to me that she did not know what happened and that "it normally brakes when I let go of the handles" - ????

I spent the afternoon at hospital. I have a fractured ankle and lacerations to my leg. Dh has had to take time off work (which we will lose money for) to care for me and ds.

I was in shock after the incident so I didn't say anything much to the woman who was in her 80s or 90s I think but now I am home I am livid. I realise old people need to get around but surely they should have a sensible speed limit and shouldn't be on the pavements??? Its illegal to cycle on the pavement isn't it so how comes that's worse!? Or is it illegal!!? Confused!! And in pain!!!

I suspect that you would have to have a huge amount of self confidence to do it.

But its just to say that its possible not necessarily desirable.

So if they are banned how will my oh come out with his family?
should he just stay at home?
Because disabled people don't have kids do they? They are all old or have someone to push them about.
Ffs

I think there should be clear guidelines on what sort of speeds are appropriate in which areas. IE; It's safer to go a bit faster in a park than it is on a street, For obvious reasons.

meetupmisery

Would you say the same it it was an elderly car user?
Because frankly you have just blamed the victim for the accident.

There is no reason why the are not fitted with GPS or an accelerometer both of which are cheap as chips these days and in the even of the driver causig a collisons happened to the OP then the police could insert a USB download the data and know the speed it was being driven at. Anything about 1 or 1.5 miles an hour on the pavement and a fine and compensation to cover the costs of healthcare etc.

Yes, elderly driver do have slower reactions times, I frequently wait behind them patiently.

I did not blame the victim explicitly, but I would apportion blame to both sides actually. This was an accident but to call for them to be banned from pavements is outrageous. I suppose they should stay at home, not socialise, shop have any level of independence.

Yeah, just when you thought this thread couldn't get any worse, now there's calls for disabled people to be chipped and to have their movements monitored by the police.

Seems to be quite a lot of ageism on here.

meetupmisery
"This was an accident but to call for them to be banned from pavements is outrageous."

But the OP has taken that back and (I think) apologised for it.
To say that OP should have given more room is like saying the same to a cyclist when a car is overtaking. Especially as in this case where the Mobility scooter came from behind.

Maybe if the scooters beeped or something so you know when one is behind or approaching around a corner? They are awfully silent.

It's not ageism, it's scooterism.

A beep would probably be quite a good idea.

Yes I think driving licences should have to be re-sit at say retirement age and thereafter every 5 years or so for the same reasons.

Driving licences already expire on your 70th birthday and you have to re-apply if you want to keep driving.

Scooters already have horns / beeps that drivers can use.

You reapply but IIRC you don't have to resit your test.

People should be mindful of pedestrians when they are driving scooters
Their speed should be limited
I think they are very quiet but that beeps and bells would cause arguments.
Electric vehicles should have some sort of noise thingy like Eco cars are?

It is a worry that anyone can buy one but it's a worry that any fool can jump on a bike or drive a car (don't you goggle at how some people manage to pass their tests?)

I hate scooters being picked out. I think I can safely say electric wheelchairs wouldn't be. Why is that? Because they are seen as more acceptable? They are certainly much, much harder to obtain. Is an electric wheelchair somehow proof that someone is really disabled and not just old/lazy/faking?

I know there are shouts of'you can't say anything without being called disabilist'
But people shoud really educate themselves about the huge surge in disability hate crime before they dismiss people as being chippy.

I think what happened to the op is awful and I would be very upset if it happened to me.

This is a difficult one.

Of course it goes without saying that anyone who had mobility problems is perfectly entitled to use whatever means available to them to get around.

There does need to be a certain amount of common sense applied though.

Last year my husband was seriously ill, his mobility was temporarily impaired and he needed two sticks to walk when he left hospital. He had no balance and no feeling in his feet and therefore walked incredibly slowly. We went shopping one day and someone in a mobility scooter reversed into him and almost knocked him over - the guy hadn't looked behind him before he started going backwards. I had to hang onto dh to keep him upright, he's 15 stone so it was difficult but had he fallen it would have been next to impossible for me to get him back on his feet. WHen the driver was challenged he said he had to look in front of him when he was driving .

I do think that there ought to be a speed restriction on the scooters and some kind of fitness test or training before they're used. THose scooters are heavy and can easily cause injury in the wrong hands.

My mother got a scooter due to mobility issues, she used it once and was terrified by the time she returned home, due to thoughtless people just walking across her path when they could clearly see her and parents letting their children run wild whilst they are having a chat,she vowed never to use it again.

As for they suggestion of electric wheelchairs they can be just as dangerous, I worked in a residential college for disabled students many of who were in electric wheelchairs and the number of injuries that were sustained by being rammed or having a foot caught under their wheels were many. Also to attain an electric wheelchair, unless you are very well off is astronomical.

I sympathize with you and your accident and hope that you recover well but to me it seems that the lady had tried to stop by releasing her handles and there was obviously a fault. I would not be surprised if she is also feeling very upset herself about the incident.

No I do not think scooters should be banned from pavements as they are the users legs, I think that all pavement users need to be more considerate to everyone else using the same walkway. I also think that it may be an idea for a scooter user to have to complete an assessment test before they venture out.

I never said mobility scooters should be banned full stop. I said they should be banned from pavements and as the course of the discussion has gone on I have taken on board the views of others and I now think they should be moderated and changed to make them safer.

It is absolutely ridiculous that you can't seem to challenge the way disabled people get about without being called disabilist. No one is saying disabled people should stay at home and not have a social life / the ability to shop - but that doesn't have to be via a mobility scooter as they are right now if there is enough pressure to make changes to them to make them safer for everyone. If no one challenged self propelled wheelchairs then maybe electric ones would never have been invented - maybe there's the potential to make something even better than mobility scooters?? A new thing altogether OR change the design completely so they are safe for pedestrians and better for disabled people too...

To hammer the point home, I have a long term chronic medical condition that requires daily medication. If someone came along and said such and such medication had caused them to have some sort of dangerous side effect I wouldn't say they were being macroprolactinoma-ist.. I'd be interested to see if there was anything better being proposed! Or to discuss why that medication is better despite the side effects. I wouldn't just shout my head off saying oh well people with our condition should sit inside and no do anything and be ill because that's not what anyone has said.

"this button must be used if you are on a pavement."

problem is that some people do NOT use it

I am used to judging the speed as I know the speeds from walking with DF power chair (the posh one which is also road legal with lights an' all) and he can drive far quicker than I can walk. If he is near pedestrians he has his limiter on as his occasional arm spasms could cause steering / speed issues .... either that or he hand over the controls ( his choice )

Of course people with mobility aids (who may be old or have disabilities) have every right to use those aids where they chose .... but with rights comes responsibilities ! Calling for people to be responsible and ensure that eyesight and response time etc is good enough to accurately drive a mobility scooter or to ask scooter drivers to act within the highway code is not being "ist" in any way MNHQ.

Perhaps the poster asking for accelerometers is liking this to the kinds of technologies used to identify the speeds of cars where collisions occur or dangerous driving like speeding is taking place. Some people think speed cameras are an imposition and speed limits are "the police state" and think they can drive at any speed they like. However when people are not sensible and when they break the law and cause injuries then inevitably the law catches up and imposes conditions / sanctions to "encourage" everyone to behave sensibly. All because of some people....

...same here - some people ( dont know if in OP situation as we dont have video evidence to ascertain the exact circumstances ) are impatient and drive fast / irresponibly. Some dont think that the person in front of them could also have a disability ( be deaf / hard of hearing) or in fact slow down as there is no "right" that the person in front has to "give way" to the person / driver behind. I certainly dont go around being aware of those behind be as tbh most of the time I am in town I am pushing a wheelchair and watching to make sure I am not running anyone down .

I do look behind and to the side before I make any sudden turns though and it is MY responsibility not to cut across other pedestrians !!!!!

But wouldn't it be more dangerous to have mobility scooters on the road? Cyclists are usually fit / know what there doing and wear safety gear. I'm not sure elderly people ESP those without a driving licence (so have no road experience) would be safe if they wernt allowed on pavements. I hope your foot Is ok but it was an accident. You said yourself she zig-zagged, if she had gone straight (like ur suppose too) then she wouldn't so I do think yabu.
If it was the other way round and you had walked infront of her causing her to come off then there'd be a thread wanting to ban people from pavements

I son't think licensing would reduce problems. When you take a driving test you only have to demonstrate that you can drive safely within the rules until you pass. You can drive like an absolute prick every day of your life from that point onwards.

We spotted an empty scooter outside a pub. I really do think there needs to be more regulations, you can't drive a car or a bike whilst under the influence, what makes a scooter so different?

So, if you can't walk there, are you not allowed to go to the pub ? TBF, my mum just drives hers straight in and pulls up at a table

You certainly shouldn't be driving one under the influence of alcohol.