Am I being unreasonable to suggest that scooters should be banned on pavements?

[Morgause]

An hour ago I went up the lane to pay the papers. The pavement isn't particularly wide but not very narrow either. A little girl aged 3 -4 scooted past me quite quickly which made me jump a bit as I hadn't heard her coming. I looked round to see her mother with a buggy quite a way back down the lane. She shouted the little girl's name and told her to wait.

I walked past her and into the shop round the corner and paid the bill. As I came back around the corner the mother had caught up with the little girl and she had begun to scoot on again. Unfortunately she scooted straight into an elderly lady just leaving her gate and they both went flying. I called an ambulance and other neighbours came out to see what could be done to help. It looks like the little girl has broken her arm and the old lady may have broken her hip or her leg - maybe both.

The ambulance man said that scooters are a "bloody nuisance" and if kids aren't falling off them they are ploughing into people on them. He thinks they should be banned anywhere but gardens and parks. The local bobby, also present, agreed.

I think the same after what I saw today. M (the old lady) is the sole carer for her elderly husband who is very disabled following a stroke. Goodness knows what will happen to him now. A neighbour is with him for now and is hoping to contact someone from social services for some emergency care.

Some good news. Son just phoned me and he's with his dad. M has broken her thigh but as far as they can see her hip is not broken. They are going to X ray or scan again tomorrow, he wasn't very clear. She will need an operation to set her thigh but for now she is as comfortable as it's possible to be in the circumstances.

He will take a week's compassionate leave and will be looking for somewhere for his dad to stay, and maybe his mum as well until she can manage. He's been told the hospital social worker will help with this but he doesn't want them to go "just anywhere".

The neighbours are rallying round but he thinks it would be better for them to be in a nursing home until M can cope, he doesn't think they'll be safe trying to manage with carers calling in. He's a bit concerned that she may never be able to cope with his dad again but is trying to stay positive.

I think I'll sleep a bit better tonight now.

Glad things aren't as bad as they could be, although still a horrible situation :(

YANBU.

I hate scooters with an absolute passion. I walk with crutches and hate how close they come to me, how fast they whizz by whilst more often than not a parent is strolling behind with that "aren't they cute" look on their bloody face.

A pavement is for walking on, for wheelchairs and pushchairs. I feel so, so sorry for that poor old lady who is lying in a hospital bed and the upset it has caused her family. If I get knocked over by a child on a scooter I will have no problems using the legal cover on my house insurance and suing the parents.

But it's alright to threaten to push a small child into the road? Because as we all know, old people are valued far more than children on this bloody website. There's some real nastiness on here.

They should have my sons scooter, it rattles so muxh you can hear him from miles away

Well, no small children got pushed into the road, but a real elderly person had their leg smashed.

Yanbu

Some parents may supervise well but in my experience most let children scoot on ahead and it is dangerous.

Parks and gardens sound like a good place for them.

Thanks 3bdaybunnies good idea! (Sorry don't know how to bold ur name)

I nearly knocked a young lad off one the other day whilst backing off my drive. I live on a hill and have to cross a pavement, I checked it was clear but he is very short ( 4ish) and came so quickly. The mum or career was a long way behind, I pointed at the boy and she gave me a long V sign.

Who would be to blame if I had hit him?

Gwendoline What a nasty post. It was agreed on the other thread it was not reasonable of the old lady to make threats.

Nobody is valuing the old over the young, in fact I would say a lot of posters on here expect the world to revolve around their children and a 3 year old's right to scoot is hardly equal to the independent lives and health of an elderly couple.

That incident was unfortunate but ban scooters from pavements? Where would children scoot? Parks? Surely that would be exactly the same, there are still walkers and cyclists who use the paths at parks, that they risk colliding with.
I do think parents should be stricter with rules when scooting. My children scoot to school. They stop at every lamp post to wait for me, take care when other pedestrians are around and neither goes very fast. They love their scooters and I will let them keep scooting, as long as they follow the rules!

...a 3 year old's right to scoot is hardly equal to the independent lives and health of an elderly couple....

I completely agree with this.

Is v easy for very small children to go FAST on scooters, even though they don't have the ability/self control to perceive hazards and act on them (at least my angelic PFB doesn't!). They're not great exercise anyway. I don't think a ban would be effective, but I do think schools could strongly discourage their being used on pavements.

Thinking about it, using a scooter might not be very good for those developing bones/tendons/muscles as people tend to push with the same leg all the time and so one leg is always getting more exercise.

Just a thought.

I don't know, I think that Governor's may have a role in opening up debate on the issue in RL communities. Would be a better bet than taking it up with Macca Pacca

I think a pedestrian feeling threatened by a scooter hurtling towards them would be well within their rights to put their hand out and stop a scooter and say something (once the parent half a mile down the road chatting to mum friend has finally caught up). I have a willowy pedestrian child who feels threatened by them every morning - it is an unfair pressure to add to the morning routine of a child who is building up his confidence.

Or just grab the scooter and give the child a big hug.
And watch the mother sprint towards you screaming in terror that a stranger touched her child, as opposed to the child knocking a stranger A over T.

I'm always a bit bemused by the vitriol shown to scooting dc on MN. Does the same apply to bikes? It takes a long time for a child to become proficient enough to ride on a busy road, should they have to push their bike to the park until then? Hope they live close to the park!

Loads and loads of kids ride or scoot to my dcs school, it's actively encouraged by the school. I've been going every day for 4 years and have never been ridden into or witnessed an accident. I'm not saying that means it doesn't happen, and the incident in the OP sounds dreadful, but my (admittedly limited) experience scooting is not quite as terribly dangerous as this thread implies.

silver

Most big children round here push their bikes. Little ones are either very slow and wobbly, or have a handle on them held by the parent. Nowhere near as fast as a scooter.

Yup, hug-a-hoodie kids-version

I am so glad for this thread. For years, I have actually thought everyone loved and/or happily tolerated them and there was something wrong with me.

Scooters on pavements are fine once a child is old enough to understand and respect that people walking take priority and they should get off and walk the scooter past other people rather than speeding past them. If they are too young to understand that then they shouldn't be riding on the pavement, stick to parks. It helps that this understanding will be about the same time that they are able to understand about cars going on and off of driveways so it is for their own benefit too.

This is a devastating story and I feel terrible for everyone involved but thread has got very anti-scooter...
Both DTs (6.5) and I have scooters and the three of us go everywhere on them. Today we went along the Thames from blackfriars to Trafalgar Square and then scooted all the way home (at least two miles) exploring the tiny alleys and squares of Olde London, instilling interest in history and geography of our great city. It gives a sense of freedom and independence and empowerment and is a great alternative to travelling by car.
But I totally think that the parents need to take the scooting very seriously and drill and train the children in how to do this safely and I get that many parents fail in this...
I am working continually on training them to ride safely an courteously. I will be telling them about this old lady and the little girl as a cautionary tale.
Okay, so it's a work in progress.... For sure, we have had near-misses and I'm sure we sometimes get up people's noses, judging by some of these posts (probably not hard, given how quickly some people are to take offence..)
But in the bigger picture, by being out and about in this way, instead of imprisoned in a metal box, I feel my children are learning to connect with the world around them and to be having the chance to develop an identity as citizens of a city, rather than atomised individuals... They are also learning road safety and awareness skills that may help prevent bigger accidents in future.

That's lovely balabooster. As someone said earlier nothing in life is 100% safe but it sounds like you are making it as safe as you can.

This thread might make others safer by making people more aware of children on scooters. As I said earlier my house has high walls and hedges so I have to edge my car across the pavement and a speeding child could really hurt themselves, I don't know the solution btu I will be watching more closely for small children.

Living on main roads is a problem. One of our friends had a runner run into the side of his car as he was going out of his drive and another friend lives on a cycle route known as The Guild Wheel in Preston. This is causing chaos for residents as cyclists are allowed to ride on pavements on some of the route and are speeding along, swearing at anyone with the temerity to try to get out of their own driveways!

I'm now adding scooters to my mental list of hazards.

YANBU. I got knocked over at 7 months pregnant by a small child coming down a hill behind me, and her mum just gave an apologetic grin and said to her daughter "oops, that was a bit fast, wasn't it?". And plenty of the kids in our area scoot joyfully past busy driveways and through cafe table, it's crazy.

There are better behaved kids, but the risk is high, and frankly unnecessary - yes, they get kids moving, but burn fewer calories than just walking. I do know what a pain it can be to walk along the road with a dawdling 5 year old vs a literally scooting one, but kids have managed travelling around unwheeled for a long time now, and surely our DC's generation can manage the same.