General Chat

they run safety courses round here for disabled scooter drivers
so they can drive safely before they go out in public :-D

Years ago I collected my grandson from primary school. I was moaning about the amount of lorries and tractors on the road slowing the traffic down. Grandson said if there weren't any tractors and lorries we wouldn't have any food from the farmers. I was firmly put in my place by a six year old.

According to this, mobility scooters of whatever type should not exceed 4mph when on footpaths or in pedestrian areas:

"
Types of Mobility Scooters

Mobility scooters fall into two categories:

Class 2 Invalid Carriages cannot be used on the road, unless there is no pavement available. These mobility scooters have a maximum speed of 4mph. All portable mobility scooters, and pavement mobility scooters fall into this category.

Class 3 Invalid Carriages include road legal mobility scooters, which have a maximum speed of 8mph on the road, but must observe the maximum speed limit of 4mph on the pavement. Users cannot drive in bus lanes, ‘cycle only’ cycle lanes or on motorways. It is also recommended that drivers avoid dual carriageways with a speed limit of more than 50mph.

Drivers of road legal mobility scooters must be aged 14 or over. Every road legal mobility scooter must have a top speed of 8mph and a device to limit its speed to 4mph when necessary. It must also have an efficient braking system, front and rear light and reflectors, and direction indicators which also serve as a hazard warning signal. In addition road legal mobility scooters must have an amber flashing light for travelling on a dual carriageway and an audible horn.

No road legal mobility scooter can have a maximum unladen weight of more than 150 kilograms or a maximum width of more than 0.85 metres. Without meeting each of these requirements, drivers could be stopped by the police.

Mobility scooter drivers are also obligated to follow the Highway Code.

All portable and pavement mobility scooters, or road legal mobility scooters, must not exceed a max speed limit of 4mph on footpaths or in pedestrian areas. Normal parking restrictions apply and vehicles should not be left on a footpath or pedestrian area where it could get in the way of pedestrians, wheelchair users and people with prams or pushchairs. "

http://www.morethanmobility.com/Mobiity-Scooter-FAQs/View-all-products.html#mobility_products

From the link I gave earlier:

6. Use by non-disabled people

Mobility scooters and powered wheelchairs can only be used by non-disabled people if they’re:
demonstrating the vehicle before it’s sold
training a disabled user
taking the vehicle to or from maintenance or repair

ooer - and to think I drove my Mum's motorised scooter from my house to the home where she moved - about a mile away!!!! :-D

Well Ann, she was probably going to maintain the charge on it at her new home.

A further bit of information is:
"A disabled person in this context is someone with an injury, physical disability or medical condition which means that they are unable to walk or have difficulty in walking."

taken from:
http://assets.dft.gov.uk/publications/mobility-scooters-road-guidance/mobility-guidance.pdf

It's all very wishy washy really and I suppose it has to be.

Whatever the law is though, that does not seem to prevent certain people from careering around like lunatics possessed by Beelzebub.

Incidentally, I notice with interest and agreement that Devon police are to fine users in certain situations. About time!

The Devon authorities know how to charge - their water rates, for example, are said to be the dearest in the UK.

A lovely county nonetheless - otherwise I wouldn't live there!

A lovely county indeed - I shall be over there myself in a few weeks.

Just caught up with this thread. My lovely red scooter (4 mph) - after lousy weather since November beginning to get out again.

I find the worst are teenagers/young men walking with pods in their ears and head down. I stopped had given up tooting my little hooter when OH leaned forward and grabbed his arm just before he either landed in my basket or knocked me off my little red scooter.

I always thank those who give way to me but ladies? with trolleys in stores are by and large the worst - they practically run one down.

As we drove off the M3 the other evening there was a bit of a hold up ahead, cars changing lane, sharp braking etc.

As we got closer it was apparent that the cause was a lady on a mobility scooter who was driving round the very large roundabout up ahead.

This roundabout has eight ins and outs, one on and one off the motorway, of the others four , two leading on and two leading off the roundabout, all dual carriageways. Also two smaller roads leading to a village and a farm.

Giving her the benefit of the doubt and hoping she hadn't come off the M3, she must have still driven at least two miles down a dual carriageway, with at least another two to go.

The worrying thing was that us assuming she hadn't just come off the motorway and had entered the roundabout from the dual carriageway, having gone past the two smaller roads and the exit onto the dual carriageway, then she was either going to go back the way she came or was heading for the motorway.

M. :-0

Sadly, that is not an isolated incident. I often see this.

If a person wants to drive down busy thoroughfares, then get a car.

A driving license is not needed for mobility scooters so a person could drive one on the road with no experience or tuition whatsoever having never driven a car in their life.

I know certain people will have the usual dig at cyclists for the same reason but that is not what this thread is about.

Might be interesting to look at some previous comments...

Oh, I didn't remember about this thread of yours when I started my one, Errol.

http://www.genesreunited.co.uk/boards/board/general_chat/thread/1341718

I find it quite irritating when I see a sheep sitting in the middle of the road. Baaa :-D

My OH is (or could be) a new mobility scooter person. He wont hire one from the shopmobilty place as he is worried about getting in peoples way. I do try to get across to him that he has the right to be able to go out to town as anyone but he wont listen. Think its up to how the individual drives the thing.

anne

Anne,

Everyone has the right to mobility, twist his arm and get him out and about :-D

Sue x