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!!!

They have increasingly decome a menace to themselves and to pedestrians especially children with no requirements for a test and ecessive power and speeds

Its the same as cyclists - a few don't gum up the works, but as numbers increase you have to have formalisation of procedures - access, licencing, speeds, driving rules, insurance etc.

Wow, this is the thread that just keeps on giving. Now we're being discussed in terms of hit and run drivers. Indeed, being disabled makes me criminal scum.

I don't read the mail as I am sure you already know novack
You don't think the use of the term invalid carriage is offensive?

Really?

Course you know it is but you thought you would slip it in anyhow.

Because your style is to be as unpleasant as possible and then affect a pose of the voice of reason.

Invalid carriage is a horrible term but it is the legal term. :(

I don't care klad the legal system is very slow to change, statute and guidance are written in outdated and sometimes archaic language.

There is no need for someone to repeatedly use the term, it is no longer in common usage, I doubt many people under 30 would have heard it.
Unless someone is ignorant or being deliberately offensive.

There is no argument about the word invalid. It's not of gone made or professionally offended to state that to describe someone as IN valid is vile.

It is becoming an increasing problem. The roads and on the pavements in the area I live in. I was nearly run down on a busy pavement last week and the old lady explained that she hadn't got the hang of it yet. We laughed and I quite understood but if she had injured one of us I doubt very much that I would have exhanged kind words with her.

Invalid carriage is a horrible term but it is the legal term

Not anymore, it isn't.

Old terms are sometimes put in so that older people recognise what they are registering and it is for their benefit alone.

All archived law cannot be changed or disgarded, as law just builds on previous leglislation. So inappropriate or incorrect, language has to remain, but won't be carried on in the new law.

The legal term is powered wheelchair or scooter.

I may being completely irrational here, but the poor man killed in Spain? Is the cause of the tragedy that he was in a motorised scooter, or that he was forced off the road by a pothole, which would have happened if he'd been in a unpowered wheelchair?

Has the The Use of Invalid Carriages on Highways Regulations 1988 been built on then with the new terms? [pleased to learn new stuff smiley]

i do wonder if there are people who just want disabled people to hide away.
we have had the Wheelchair on buses threads, where wheelchairs are not wanted(in the wheelchair space)
threads where people moan about BB holders parking in P&T spaces.
special lanes for Paralympics not wanted.
to name but a few.
get the feeling there are some very vile people on mn

am glad you are ok OP. the thing is it could have been more serious and you don't really go out to be hurt. OP was minding her own business.

If a car ran over her foot then the driver would have been liable.

Kladdkaka
"Wow, this is the thread that just keeps on giving. Now we're being discussed in terms of hit and run drivers. Indeed, being disabled makes me criminal scum."

Hit and run was used in defense of mobility scooters not having insurance.

Trying to create a bunfight about semantics to detract from the OP post is the same old same old strawman nonsense on here day in day out.

It is NOT semantics and you know it.
Getting on your high horse about people objecting to your deliberate use of offensive language is the nonsense here.

If you didn't want a bunfight why use the term?
Have you been living in a cave for 30 years?

No. You are perfectly aware the term is unacceptable.

Blah, blah strawman, blah blah.

OP yabu in suggesting that they are banned from pavements . I think Kladdkaka has already cleared up the insurance thing , she said that hers covers third party incidents ? Im sure i saw a thing on the BBC about a council offering a sort of proffiency test for mobility scooter drivers , which did seem like a good idea as the people got to learn how to handle them safely in a safe environment . How to apply the brakes quickly when a pedestrian meanders into your path , that sort of thing.
A few months ago i did come across a couple of elderly gentleman racing theirs in an empty car park , they were hilarious and were having a fab time and were no danger to others . Unlike a local chap who appears to have a deathwish and is well known for his random lane changes approaching the traffic lights !

OhDoAdmitMrsDeVere there are some people on mn who get a thrill out of using unacceptable language on here, then when you pull them on it, they start calling names.
they are SS

frumpet that sounds very positive. I think now we have an ageing population the scooters may become more prevalent.

it is a bit like driving a car in say in the 1920's, not so many on the road so not such a formal driving test etc.

there does need to be some sort of cover to protect pedestrians. if an accident happened in a workplace it would be noted so there needs to be some sort of accountability if a scooter does harm someone.

Kladdkaka

"Wow, this is the thread that just keeps on giving. Now we're being discussed in terms of hit and run drivers. Indeed, being disabled makes me criminal scum."

You appear to be deliberately choosing to misunderstand what was written. Nobody is attacking you. The hit and run context came up when I raised the issue of the chap who knocked my son (aged 3 at the time) down with his mobility scooter, drove over his leg and drove off. I had no way of tracing him nor getting anyone to check if he was still safe to be using a scooter. Fortunately my son was not badly hurt but if that had been an elderly person he had knocked over they could have easily fractured a hip or arm and lost their independence because of it.

That specific mobility scooter user was not safe to be using one and it should have been possible to identify him so he could be (re)assessed to see if he was able to continue using one.

I don't underestimate the day to day challenges you may face (my best friend of 30 years was in a wheelchair all her life so I had a small window into her world and the problems she faced - sadly she died of a progressive condition) but if someone is dangerous on mobility scooter they should be stopped. In the same way, if someone I knew was not safe to drive and I couldn't stop them getting into the car, I would call the police because they should be stopped too.

"We spotted an empty scooter outside a pub."

One of our customers comes on his mobility scooter and leaves it outside all afternoon.

He drinks soda water with lime juice. He's a diabetic and has no alcohol at all. You don't know what the person was drinking, any more than you would know what the people who drive cars to the pub have to drink when they get there.

Can i ask, as i havent read the entire thread. Can they actually legally drive on the road? Is that not more unsafe than driving on the pavement.

It sounds as though most are agreed that mobility scooters shouldn't be banned from pavements, and I'd go along with that. However, I'd agree there is a problem with the minority of users who have a cavalier and arrogant attitude towards other pavement users (yes yes, probably same proportion as arrogant cyclists, drivers, pedestrians etc).

There's a couple round here who are a positive menace. Today my 2yo was on the other side of the pavement from me, putting some paper into the street bin. I saw this guy on a mobility scooter approaching and called her to me, not wanting them to get tangled in the middle of the pavement. I swear, he sped up and turned so he was heading right for her at the edge of the pavement. She turned and kind of jumped in the air when he saw her coming. And then he started shouting at her. . He had practically the whole of the pavement, she was not remotely in his way. It was simple grandstanding.

Now, other pedestrians do that, as do owners of large buggies, dogs, cyclists on pavements etc. But these scooters can be very heavy and quite fast and perhaps, I wonder, sometimes driven by people who are quite frail and elderly and understandably expect to get given priority when walking, then fail to adjust their street sense when on a scooter.

Sorry you were hurt OP :(

Have not read the whole thread as it's very long but somebody may have already said this (and better), if not I think it would be worth speaking to the Motor Insurers Bureau and/or Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority/Board (can't remember which it is).

The MIB deal with being hit by an uninsured driver/someone who does not stop

The Criminal Injuries deal with people who have been beaten up by somebody in the street who then ran off.

Obviously these are very basic examples but either of them might be able to point you in the right direct to making a claim for injury and loss of DH money.

HTH

so now people want disabled people to spend more money on being disabled!
you do realise they are being the hardest hit by the cuts and most are already forking out a fortune on being disabled.
people don't choose to be disabled and it can happen to anyone we are all just TABS.

threesocks
Where are people with a disability being asked to spend more money?

TABS? Sorry I don't know what this means?

I know you are concerned because you have a family member with a disability and I can understand why you are reacting strongly when times are difficult with the cuts. What I am struggling with a bit is that the OP who has suffered a serious injury and myself who thought I was watching my 3 yr old get his leg broken (thankfully not) by a mobility scooter don't seem to be allowed to be upset or question whether or not there is a way of dealing with the few people who are genuinely not safe to be using a mobility scooter.

Where are people with a disability being asked to spend more money?

The adaptions for my car cost £1500
If I want to go to the theatre I can't book online, I have to call the special helpline, I'm then charged extra because I didn't book online.
I can't rent from the council because they have no suitable property so I have to rent from a housing association at double the price.
As a student, because I had a live in carer, I had to pay council tax.

If I had 10 mins I'd think of a few more

What I am struggling with a bit is that the OP who has suffered a serious injury and myself who thought I was watching my 3 yr old get his leg broken (thankfully not) by a mobility scooter don't seem to be allowed to be upset or question whether or not there is a way of dealing with the few people who are genuinely not safe to be using a mobility scooter.

Have you read the OP? Or the responses?

The OP has had an accident, she has given three different versions so we don't know what really happened other than she has a broken foot. As a result she wants ALL mobility scooters banned. She is not interested in any schemes to have people take tests, be insured, or the reasons why anyone needs a scooter.

You are being reasonable, the OP isn't.