Do you find mobility scooters a nuisance?

Well reading these replies has made me feel easier in my experiences. As I said, i drive like a snail and am 100% curious to other.

I can but agree with comments on the erratic behaviour of some drivers, they obviously don't give a hoot to others or how they are perceived.

I have made my scooter a fancy basket cover and i have number plates for her hahahaha.

People are brilliantly kind and friendly, but have encountered the odd 1 or 2 with faces like slapped ar**

I think a point that some are missing.
By the time some people need a mobility scooter they have other health issues which makes their reaction time etc not so good such as early stage dementia
Perhaps there should be a scheme to educate, something like the old cycling proficiency scheme
It would make family more aware before purchasing a scooter if there was greater emphasis on regulation with the DVLA and compulsory insurance. Mine was only about £45 per year Yes I have just asked my husband if mine was registered and apparently it was

Should have been registration with DVLA

My mother-in-law has insurance but chose one that is pavements only. It has two "gearings" fast and slow selected by a switch. Obviously she can accelerate and stop etc on either set of gearings - maybe the pavement ones should just be made slower? That might work...

I’m not rattled by people using mobility scooters who through no fault of their own, find themselves in need of them, but rather by morbidly obese people (and not elderly) who have brought this sad situation on themselves.

I have no doubt that mobility scooters are godsend to those that need them but my issue is the speed . Is there any reason why they have to go so fast ?
pedestrians have very few "rights" these days so with bikes, motorised scooters and e scooters sharing pavements, my question is where are pedestrians able to walk safely?

They are a wonderful help to people who can't otherwise get out and about much. So let's be tolerant. I agree that there are some careless drivers of them, but most are fine. I see them regularly here and just think how nice it is for those who need them.
I do realised that it must be more difficult in city or town centres with bigger populations and therefore more crowded streets.

I think mobility scooters have something of a reputation for a variety of reasons. I’m a wheelchair user and when I used a scooter I found that people were much less respectful. I do find that people tend to walk into the wheelchair a lot more - usually because they’re too busy looking at their phones, and I’m careful in supermarkets because people tend to step backwards from the shelves straight into me. Despite this, I’ll stick with the wheelchair every time.

No, I don’t find mobility scooters a nuisance. There but for the grace of God !

I used to get annoyed when wheelchairs and mobility scooters used to block the aisles when I was shopping.

But, once my husband became ill and needed a wheelchair and a mobility scooter I finally realised what a terrible person I had previously been. If people who complain about them had to use a wheelchair or a mobility scooter for a week then they would have more patience. Walk a mile in their shoes or should I say ride a mile in their shoes to understand.

That is how i think in general Wonderfullife. I think hey I wish I could do blah blah but I can't so i take it on the chin, it is what it is so just crack on but like I say I am conscious of how others perceive me on my scooter.... but now I've put it out there, and received others opinions im seeing it through a different pair of eyes.
Yes, walk a mile in my shoes... or as you say ride.

Thank you

I'm a wheelchair user and have many problems in supermarkets etc. I've had people step back and sit on my lap which is far from funny as my legs are extremely painful without some heavyweight sitting on them. I've also been smacked around the head by a hefty handbag being flung over a shoulder. People just don't seem to see us even when I'm talking quite animatedly to whoever I'm with. Sometimes they apologise but not always. Mobility scooters would probably cause me less grief but I can't bring myself to use one. Firstly they just seem so bulky and secondly they always seem to be used by the very overweight rather than the physically disabled.

Cabbie21

Not all need to be registered, only those which are allowed to go on the road.
Class 2 mobility scooters must not exceed 4 mph and may not use the road and do not need to be registered.
www.gov.uk/mobility-scooters-and-powered-wheelchairs-rules

Thank you, yes I should have mentioned that it is class 3 scooters that may use the road.

I hsve yet to see anyone on a large motorbike styled buggie who was any younger than the average scooter rider.

I have a hunch that they are bought brand new by someone who has never had the income to afford a new car, especially not a top of range one, but can afford a new huge chrome bedecked mobility scooter hence the selfisshness with wich they are driven.

Yeah, there is a fella in the local market town who races round with music blasting out of a speaker which is attached to the back of his scooter and stops dead in his tracks to hand out sweets to little one's....

He's chirpy, he's happy, he's certainly a character so no one can fault him on that, but its the erratic driving that concerns me. He's obviously turned his life around to a positive in needing the scooter to get about, no doubt about that and to some extent he brightens up a day by his smile and happy-go-lucky manner, but that is in amongst almost knocking someone down.

Listen to me, moan moan moan. Getting back to the issue, i think i will have a big sign situated at the front of my scooters saying CAREFUL, CONSIENCOUS DRIVER and smile at everyone, that will make me feel easier.

((*if you see on the news LOONATIC IN CHARGE OF SCOOTER you know its me.*))

I have a 4 mph pavement scooter (which folds into the boot of a car - allowing me to go on days outing with family). Also have a smallish electric wheelchair, using which I can go on buses, trains, etc.

I have used a scooter for several years now With it I can lead a life outside of my home, gives liberty and independence and a social life. My wheelchair means that I can, totally by myself, go on bus rides, and use trains to visit friends and my children.

It did take me quite a long time to learn to use both of these. Yes, they are easy to use, but controlling them and understanding them takes experience. IN those early days, I did misjudge things, and act instinctively (for a car not a scooter) and had a few accidents. Fortunately none very serious. But as years have gone by I feel I very competent, and try to be extremely polite. Any time someone steps out of my way on a narrow pavement, etc. I make a point of saying 'Thank You' to them. Go pretty slow when amongst crowds, and expect small children not to notice me and to run in front of me.

My wheelchair is slightly slower and less manouverable than the scooter. I do not feel as safe on this, but thank people in buses as they often have to wait for me to get it into wheelchair space before the bus can move off.

Do think that there needs to be a period of proper training before people are let loose with one of these scooters, even the 4 mph ones, or even if some sort of good booklet could be produced reminding people on them how they need to be polite and 'give way' to pedestrians (not the other way round as a small minority of scooter users seem to think).

Thank you... 😃

They seem to be enormous now. Like all vehicles and to me that's what they are, they should be driven with due care and attention. Do the users of these vehicles have tuition on how to drive/manoeuvre them as some seem to just know how to drive at great speed in my direction! How can anyone see through a plastic raincovered hood or do they have wipers but don't get used. Like all vehicle drivers there are those who are careful and courteous and those who think they have the right to drive wherever and how they want. Sadly, the bad behaviour of roadusers has now crept onto pavements and within shopping malls. Can anyone buy an electric wheelchair or do you have to be assessed for disability?

Have no problem at all with them I try to give them a wide berth as I'm sure they can be difficult to manage in some tight spaces. Always try to be considerate to the drivers and just grateful I don't need one -yet!

I live in an old town with narrow pavements. Most mobility scooter riders are careful and considerate. However there are a few who think they own the pavement, and force pedestrians to step into our busy High Street to avoid a collision.
Some scooters can do 8mph which is too fast for pavement use. Not all pedestrians are nimble enough to skip out of the way.

hollysteers

I’m not rattled by people using mobility scooters who through no fault of their own, find themselves in need of them, but rather by morbidly obese people (and not elderly) who have brought this sad situation on themselves.

How judgemental. My daughter was not obese (as per BMI charts) until she became disabled when she became very depressed, couldn't get out of bed on many days because of ME and pretty much all she could do was eat. She was 27 with a genetic heritage which inclines her to be on the larger side.

It is people like you who kept her at home because she didn't want people to think she was in a wheelchair or on a mobility scooter because she was fat.

You obviously have no idea of the psychology of young people who find themselves needing mobility aids at such a young age. It sets them aside from their peers, it puts their disability at the forefront very visibly for the world to see and they are judged by people like you if they have extra weight.

There are also several conditions which cause Polyphagia where the sufferer never feels full so they have obesity problems.

Grannygravy13, yes I've seen similar, a woman in Costa on a scooter lost control and hit chairs and tables putting a small child in a highchair at risk. She totally panicked and didn't think to let go of the accelerator.

On the other hand, my son uses one as he can't walk more than a few paces but won't take it into shops, insists a wheelchair is safer. Biggest concern is when there are no dropped kurbs and he has to drive on one busy narrow one-way road, particularly at night going the wrong direction - no way could I walk the extra miles with him to follow the one way system.

Advantages include being able to carry a huge amount of heavy shopping! He also has his own seat at a pavement café....and yes, after an evening out I may be too tired to get up the hill and I can hitch a ride....

Perhaps these mobility scooters will help us reduce pollution, freeing up towns and cities from short car journeys

Won't generalise but a huge oaf of a man nearly knocked me over with one the other day shouting "move out the way woman"! Aggressive and rude. Like any driver, some are prone to road rage and think they own the road / pavement.

It's not the vehicle, it's the operator. The same goes for the electric stand-up scooters we are now plagued with in our city, used mainly by a younger and less considerate user group. Narrowly missed being hit by a duo of the same last week - in a multi story car park! No need for them being used there.
I give space to mobility scooter users, as my Mum used to use one and I've seen the difficulties less mobile folk have, and may well be in that situation myself one day.
However I agree that some form of training or practice is essential. I was at an exhibition centre in the past, when a lady beside me in the queue for the coffee stall lost control of her large heavy scooter, ploughed into me so hard I ended up sprawled over the front of the perishing thing, she also knocked the fixture for the coffee stand into an 'alternative location' and I ended up with huge bruises across my lower legs and a very painful rest of my day! She apologised profusely, bless her, saying it was a scooter hired for her for the event by her family, and thrn promptly lost control of it again and sent me flying for a second time.....

It depends on the maximum speed of a mobilty scooter as to whether it can be used on the road. In that instance it should have lights and also a separate braking mechanism. We have insurance for my husband's ATTO.