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?

I think this thread is becoming too personal.

And I am under absolutely under no illusion that if one ran in front of me, on the pavement, and was hurt, then I would get the blame. But this set of values would not apply to a car driver, who would be deemed blameless in those circumstances.

In what universe do you live? You are talking about driving on the pavement. If a car driver drove on the pavement and killed or injured a child, they would certainly be prosecuted. If you, driving on the pavement, killed or injured a child, then I hope you would be prosecuted too. Children are taught that they should be reasonably safe on the pavement, not on the road.

If you are talking about a car on the road, and you driving on the pavement, then it's apples and organges, and your comparison is nonsensical.

really? you are now talking about tinkly killing or injuring a child?

really? you are now talking about tinkly killing or injuring a child?

Strange. I don't see where Archery has actually used the words 'tinkly killing or injuring a child'.

A lot of reading too much/making it personal into people's words on this thread.

" If you, driving on the pavement, killed or injured a child, then I hope you would be prosecuted too."

sounds quite personal to me

My experience is that my scooter is really easy to use on the flat and straight but a crowd of pedestrians is a right menace.
People don't realise that a scooter cannot squeeze in, or take a small step to the side to avoid something.
If I'm waiting for a gap to appear that I can pass through, piles of people will cone up behind me and squeeze in front of me, because they do not realise that I cannot squeezed through and I have to wait for a large enough gap.
I can easily get into and round a shop and then get to the till and pay only to find I cannot reverse because there are people behind me. As many of you can see from the attitudes on this thread, very often the people who I need to politely ask to move so that I can turn or reverse snarl, scowl of even verbally abuse me for daring to inconvenience them.

Sorry, crappy typos in my post. People on feet can usually dodge nimbly. With the best will in the world a scooter user cannot dodge.

The BBC documentary shown a few months back also showed a woman who was handing in a petition to Downing Street to ask for mobility scooters to be regulated. She started the petition after her son was knocked down and injured by a mobility scooter. She collected around 3000 signatures for her petition. The amount who signed didn’t surprise me, with any physical petition you will get signatures proportionate to the amount of work you put in to gathering them.

The figures that DID surprise were: in the 4 months she was petitioning in her own local area, she received 300 letters and emails from people injured by mobility scooters. All these letters came from her own small city of Derby, and the surrounding area. If a small city like Derby, with a population of just under 250,000 people has had 300 people injured by mobility scooters, and these figures are replicated up and down the country, then whether people on this thread want to acknowledge it or not, mobility scooters are involved in an awful lot of accidents, and this has to be looked at thoroughly.

A coroner on the Isle of White was also quoted on the BBC documentary where he criticised the serious lack of regulations with mobility scooters after an Isle of White woman was knocked down and killed in 2009. The woman killed was walking on the pavement when hit by the mobility scooter. And a coroner knows all the ins and outs of the situation he comments on, so I find that worth paying attention to.

People on feet can usually dodge nimbly. With the best will in the world a scooter user cannot dodge.

what like very old and infirm people who walk or stand at a till can dodge nimbly?

like people who are visually impaired and might not be able to see the mobility scooter can dodge nimbly?

like my handicapped husband who can walk very short distances can dodge nimbly? He is about as nimble as a bull in a china shop. But he would look able-bodied to you. The last time he tried a nimble movement sideways, he stumbled, fell to the ground, and was in a wheelchair for 11 weeks.

I don't think it's fair or accurate to assume everyone on foot is nimble enough to dodge sideways.

Just like to point out here that it was Tinkly who wrote first about her hypothetically hurting a child by running over it. I was responding to her post on this, not accusing her of anything.

I'll sit and wait here for an apology, shall I?

Come and sit down Archery

I'm still waiting for a response to my question about power chairs...

And I am under absolutely under no illusion that if one ran in front of me, on the pavement, and was hurt, then I would get the blame. But this set of values would not apply to a car driver, who would be deemed blameless in those circumstances.

not under any law I am familiar with.

car drivers are regularly prosecuted if they fail to drive properly and that poor driving results in hitting someone. If they hit someone because it was unavoidable, i.e. I sit crouched behind a parked car, wait until the driving car is almost upon me then jump out in front of it, then generally the driver isn’t prosecuted. That is as it should be. Car drivers are prosecuted all the time when they are at fault, why are you saying they always get off as blameless? That’s just silly.

have you heard of the charges levied at car drivers regularly?

they include, but are not limited to, things like: careless driving, dangerous driving, manslaughter while driving a vehicle, causing death by dangerous driving

can I sit down and join the queue of people with unanswered questions? lol

I'm still waiting for an answer for mine I make some perfectly valid points and I'm told I'm uncaring

Sit and wait all you like annie.

Its uncomfortable watching you lot all circling round and hassling Tinkly tbh.

Except I did not do the thing you said I was doing, Fanjo.

Tinky, on the other hand, has consistently been characterising other people - including other people here who have disabilities - "disablist", and implying we all hate disabled people and want to lock them up. Which is offensive, contradictory nonsense.

Not what I'd call a reasonable way to discuss anything.

Its called being hurt about something which is a sensitive subject to her, you know

And the rest of us aren't allowed to be hurt, then?

Sit and wait all you like annie.Its uncomfortable watching you lot all circling round and hassling Tinkly tbh.

FFTM, if you go back and actually read the thread, you will see it is Tinky and Mamuka who have been continually hassling me to answer one of their questions.

funny how you don't notice that though, despite them saying the same thing repeatedly to me.

You can really do selective reading and only criticise those on the side of the argument you don't support. Funny that!

do you want me to go back and copy and paste every dig they have made at me along the lines of "happy just refuses to answer that because she is disablist" type of post they have left for me?

the truth is, I didn't answer their question as I simply don't know what a power chair is, I was about to politely tell them that, then they became personal and snidey about it so I just continued to ignore them, and continued to allow them to chastise me for having the audacity to leave one of their ever so important questions unanswered.

Its called being hurt about something which is a sensitive subject to her, you know

and you assume it's not a sensitive subject for me or others? what gives you the right or knowledge to assume that?

do you assume it's not a sensitive subject for the woman upthread whose mother was KILLED by a mobility scooter?

do you assume it's not a sensitive subject for the woman upthread whose leg was badly broken by a mobility scooter?

Ghost asked if people with mobility needs and (among other conditions) dementia should use mobility scooters.
I can only speak about my situation, and that is quite clear: my elderly mother has cops and age-related dementia. She would not be safe driving a scooter. So in her case it is obvious she cannot get one for her safety (she could easily drive it unwittingly into a busy road) or for the safety of other people, whether on foot or on bikes or cars or even on scooters. She just isn't capable of the concentration required. That is one individual case and would not apply to anyone else as another person of the same age and with cops could be different and more than capable. I just think there should be no absolutes either for or against.
I have no solutions to offer regarding those with dementia and using scooters.

14:29:50
No one has answered my earlier question on whether they feel the same about powered wheelchairs.

14:58:01
Happy What are your thoughts on power chairs?

15:09:37
happy Are you able to able to answer my question on power chairs?

15:15:56
Happy has no opinion on power chairs. They are for "proper" disabled people you know. God forbid Happy would be disablist.

15:24:40
I'll try again. This test you describe for power chairs too?

15:33:35
Power chairs...? Waits...

Being hassled 6 times in an hour to answer a question, which I was just about to answer that I didn’t even know what "power chairs" were, is enough for me to ignore those who ask so rudely and repeatedly and forcefully (and who throw disablist insults at me). I have others things to do than just sit here and answer in an instant to people who don’t have the decency to answer my questions or to wait enough time before reminding me to answer. This isn't school.

I do like though how “their” rudeness gets totally overlooked. While Annie, Sybil and myself get jumped on for one “can I have an answer please” each.

happy

I definitely haven't accused anyone of being disabilist.

Only one of those comments was to you and had your name in it and the other comment with your name on it wasn't mine.

I'm genuinely interested as to what people (not just you) think of powered chairs - for those who are not sure they are wheel chairs that are operated by the user and are very similar to scooters apart from being a chair.
They do up to 6mph and are on streets and in shops.
Would people feel as comfortable accusing people of choosing to use them and that they shouldn't be in certain places because of the risk of people being run over?
Would people also ask for tests for these?
I'm not being facetious I'm asking a genuine question.

Forgive me two are to you. I asked once and with no reply I asked again, which I think is fair enough.

mumaka, in my experience asking anyone, in that kind of sarcastic/demanding manner, 6 times in one hour to answer a question is not going to work - unless it's in a classroom and you're asking an 8 yr old.

I can't answer your question without knowing what things weigh. A quick google tells me they can weigh between 250-400 lbs. And unless I am reading this wrong they can carry up to 650 lbs???? Can that be right?

Well if it is, that's a combined weight in excess of a 1000lbs, even traveling at just 6mph that is a massive impact. I looked on google images and some of them look like electric wheelchairs, and some of them look just like the mobility scooters many people I know have. I also read you can fiddle with them and easily get the speed up to 8-9mph.

Do I think my partially sighted (with poor reflexes and poor coordination and concentration) neighbour would be safe driving one weighing 400lbs in busy public places. No. I don't. At all.

But it is possible I am looking at the wrong things.