To think that mobility scooters are bloody dangerous and there should be more regulation of their use?

[JellyDiamond]

I've just nearly run over a man on a disability scooter. I was driving along at 30mph, when he pulled off the kerb right in front of me. He didn't look anyway but when he realised I was coming towards him he didn't seem to know how to stop it and carried on. Had I been going any faster I would have hit him, had another car been behind me they'd have crashed into me...

I appreciate elderly and disabled people need to get about, but many of them don't seem to know how to use these scooters. There's an old chap near me who uses and one and drives along in the middle of the road, holding up traffic and refusing to pull over to let anyone pass. I've nearly been run over myself by them on pavements, in shops, in supermarkets and I've heard of people who have actually been bit and injured by them.

Surely there should be some kind of course and test for users before allowing them lose on the public? Maybe even an assessment to see who actually needs them rather than just giving them out willy billy to any OAP over the age of 70 wants one?

Tinkly makes good points, though.

If more training, regulation & liability should be applied to all groups if that group contains members who sometimes cause injury, then toddler owners & dog owners (amongst others) need it as well. They'll need public liability insurance so Tinkly can sue them when they injure her.

www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/mobility-scooter-driver-banned-from-the-roads-826041

The thing is people can be banned from using the scooters.

I much prefer training, then the police doing their jobs.

bulb - people on the threads i've read have been saying that if you aren't fit enough to drive a scooter safely you shouldn't. They have not been making comments about disability. i think you are just trying to stir things up.

many older people's reaction speeds and eyesite deteriorates, these people aren't disabled, but may well be a danger on a scooter. my mother has dementia - she's not registered disabled, but would be lethal on a scooter.

I have no problem with people who deliberately misuse their scooters being banned. But training? Driving a scooter is easier than driving a dodgem.

YYY, Bulbasaur, re your reply to the bonkers outrage at autism comparison & confining people indoors.

If it's so easy then why are people crashing into pedestrians and shattering their legs?

Over my dead body would my nan should ever be allowed on a scooter.

She has mixed dementia and it would be unsafe to her and those around her.

Over my dead body would my nan should ever be allowed on a scooter.

She has mixed dementia and it would be unsafe to her and those around her.

garlic - if my dog weighed the same as a scooter and was as big then i agree it should be insured. many dogs are

saying that if you aren't fit enough to drive a scooter safely you shouldn't. They have not been making comments about disability

But if you're not allowed to drive a scooter, then no allowance is being made for your disability. You are being denied mobility. That is disablist.

What about cycling? Did I miss a legally required test being introduced for that?

You clearly missed that adult cyclists aren't allowed to ride on the pavement.

I think the thing people still aren't getting, despite repetitions, is scooter = legs.

People with working legs can do all sorts of destructive things while using them.

We do not respond to this by cutting off their legs.

Well a dog doesn't need to be as big as a scooter to do damage, he just needs to be unsupervised? Do you think all dogs should be insured and their owners undergo training because some dogs cause damage?

Even disabled people need to be able to use them safely, Garlic. "I'm sorry I broke your leg, I'm disabled" just isn't going to cut it. There needs to be a capability test, or people using these need to be supervised.

garlic - can we have some examples please of how someone going about their normal day to day activity can hospitalise somone with their legs - and i'm not talking about doing anything maliciously here - since i assume thats also the case with scooters

It's fucking ridiculous to keep a person confined to their home because they might be an inconvenience to someone else.

We aren't talking about "inconvenience". We are talking about injury and death.

We also aren't talking about confining people to their homes. We are talking about regulating one mode of transport, not mandatory imprisonment.

If you child caused damage you'd more than likely be covered under the legal expenses section of your home policy. Dogs are different, many policies exclude them because, well they're animals. But if you had pet cover you'd be generally alright.

The thing with scooters is that one type (specifically the class 3 invalid carriages) are registered road vehicles and would be excluded under the terms of most UK home policies. There is no legal requirement to insure them at the moment, but if you're involved in an accident it could cost you dearly. I really do hope that this is explained to people who buy this type of scooter, regardless of anything else we've been discussing on this thread.

Happy, I don't know about the legal obligation to record such incidents, but I think the increase in accidents suggests that a) more scooters are on the road, and b) whatever sympathy people had previously for users of scooters is waning, and they're more likely to report.

Lady Sybil I guess for the same reasons that people crash their cars or run people over, even though they have passed their driving tests; because accidents happen.

Actually Bulbasaur I haven't said anyone should be confined to their home. Go back through my posts and show me where I've said it.

Explain to me how it isn't cruel to drive into someone (possibly a disabled person, possibly an elderly person or possibly a child) because you can't control yourself on a heavy piece of machinery? Explain to me how your right (general your, not you personally) to get around on big machine is somehow more important than a person's right to walk down the street without getting injured? If someone comes at me with a mobility scooter they can't control I can jump out of the way, if someone comes at an elderly or disabled person with a mobility scooter they can't jump out of the way. Therefore the majority of people injured by scooters tend to be elderly or disabled. Why does the elderly or disabled person on the scooter have more rights the elderly or disabled person walking down the street?

Oh and in none of my posts have said anything that could possibly be offensive. All I have said is that scooters should be more regulated. I even said cyclists should be far more regulated. I have no idea why you just decided to offend people with Autism. Oh and my child doesn't have meltdowns and hasn't done since she 4, so technically she wouldn't be effected by your weird skewed laws on Autism.

There's a post towards the top from a mumsnetter who lost a loved one after she was hit by a scooter We're not talking bruises or cuts, but broken limbs and death. I'm disabled, it doesn't give me an excuse to go around damaging other people, whether accidently or not.

I have no problem with people who deliberately misuse their scooters being banned. But training? Driving a scooter is easier than driving a dodgem.

I take it then you didn't see the BBC documentary about mobility scooters then? One local authority has a "training area" for mobility scooter users to use to practice on if they so wish, and they also get free coaching from the workers there too . There is absolutely no obligation for users to use this practice area. Now you may find mobility scooters easy, but that is absolutely not the case for the people using the training facility the BBC filmed. Many of the people filmed had extreme problems performing the simplest of tasks in a controlled and safe environment. Many had collisions that could have/would have been severe if they had been in "real" situations. Many didn't see red lights, or adhere to red lights. One can only imagine the problems these mobility scooter users would have had in real traffic, had they not had this free training and coaching. One elderly gentleman said the whole learning process of controlling the vehicle and seeing what was going on around him (road signs, traffic lights, pedestrians etc) had been far more difficult than he had anticipated.

They might be easier than driving a dodgem for you, but is unfair to think that every mobility scooter user feels this way. The documentary also showed people who had stopped using their mob. scooter as they had too many difficulties with them.

A walking adult with dementia, MS, stroke, epilepsy, or any number of conditions can blunder into a group of tables outside a cafe, causing injury & damage. This thread's logic would have it that they aren't allowed to walk about if they can't guarantee this won't happen!

It goes without saying that a fully-able adult can do the same while temporarily impaired while drunk or stoned. How about them?

Children can, and often do, cause this type of disruption while using their legs.

Small personal example - my legs gave out while crossing the road. The driver coming towards me was somewhat more alert than OP, pulled to a gentle halt and checked I was okay. If that had been OP, perhaps you'd all be on this thread now, saying I shouldn't be allowed to use my legs??

My last reply was to dreaming.

i think you are getting desperate now garlic. how many people do you know who've been hospitalised by someone walking into you or the table you are sitting at?

Happy, I don't know about the legal obligation to record such incidents, but I think the increase in accidents suggests that a) more scooters are on the road, and b) whatever sympathy people had previously for users of scooters is waning, and they're more likely to report.

Thanks Craic, I just wanted to kind of get the point over, that even though we know of many documented serious accidents, and even deaths, caused by/or involving mobility scooters.... that possibly we are still just seeing the tip of the iceberg as I am quite sure there is as yet no legal obligation for the police and local authorities to record these incidents, or HOW to record them. I totally agree with you about the waning sympathy and the increase in numbers. Something will have to be done, hopefully sooner rather than later.