Do you find mobility scooters a nuisance?

Our dear elderly neighbour has a mobility scooter and uses it for taking his dog for a walk. We live in the middle of the countryside up impossibly narrow roads and no verges along most of his route. The road is used by huge tractors with a variety of implements on the back, massive cattle feed lorries, milk tankers & of course cars, many of which are driven far too fast. I know his timings & try to avoid being on the road when he & the elderly lab are going to be about. If I am out when he is, I drive like a snail but frankly, I fear for his safety, he is an accident waiting to happen.

There is the equivalent of 'cycling proficiency' that insurance companies require - however I don't think it's complulsory.
Our bus service has dwindled to almost nothing. I see a few road-going mobility scooters being used by people who don't need blue badges, but aren't up to a round trip of 8 miles to do their shopping / see a GP / visit the library etc.

Here the users of mobility scooters are all careful and considerate drivers.

What we have to worry about is teenagers on bicycles or electric scooters - not the small motor bikes, the scooters like the ones we played on as little girls.

My local council has a truly great scheme where disabled people can park free of charge in the centre of town and hire a mobility scooter for shopping. They had so many complaints from shop keepers and ordinary shoppers about how these scooters were knocking into people and display stands etc., that they were thinking of introducing a compulsory test before allowing anyone to use the scooters. It took a person driving himself into the lake at the town park, to bring in a more stringent test of drivers.
It was found that 2 of the people who regularly hired scooters were registered blind. Not having enough sight to be considered capable of leading a life without paid assistance ( so therefore eligible for money to pay a helper around their home.
Incidentally, I’m a mobility scooter user and would be quite willing to undertake any type of test on my driving abilities. Scooter or car. As would most scooter users. Unfortunately, I know only too well that many scooter users are just not capable of using scooters properly

I think the negative veiw is often caused by the inconsiderate use. Guidance should be provided at point of sale and owners should have to pass a test and have public liabilty insurance.
I am disabled and walk using sticks and crutches and I have been mowed down by some of them.

Sorry, no idea what a rollator is???

Beloved and I both have scooters. Our attitude to pedestrians is, if you're not happy, tough, we have as much right on the pavements as you have, it's not our fault we have to use these bloody things.

If I see someone who I think is not looking and is going to walk into me and i dont have time to move out of the way, I just stop, if you walk into me then, it's your fault

Actually EEjit, the Highway Code stipulates that pedestrians have the right of way and drivers of mobility scooters should give way to them.

Yes, in answer to the OP, I do find them a nuisance. Some are very large and some drivers are hopeless. They can be a disaster in shops, banging into things and people.

EEjit You rather miss the point, for most of us we have no problem with mobility scooters, the problem is not the vehicle but the driver and - as with cars - there are some very selfish and careless people driving mobility scooters. I am sure that you and your Beloved are not two of them.

I would hazard a guess that a good many drivers of mobility scooters have never held a licence to drive a car.

Mojack26

Sorry, no idea what a rollator is???

Hi Mojack26

A rollator is similar design to a 'walker' that many people with mobility issues use.

I find a photo and post on here so you know what I am referring to.

I was always dead set against getting 1, but this 1 I have is a 3-in-1 rollator and turns into an electric wheelchair when i need it...

I find photo now 😃

Mojack26

Sorry, no idea what a rollator is???

This is an ordinary rollator/walker.

Mojack26

Sorry, no idea what a rollator is???

This is what i have.

I agree with ‘Theexwife’. It’s the behaviour of the scooter rider that puts people’s backs up. My ex SIL uses hers as a weapon, pushing people out of the way in shops, queue jumping etc. Actually, there’s nothing wrong with her to warrant the use of one which is both sad and annoying.

I just don't get why people's attitude changes once sat on a scooter, to the everyday man and woman in the street,they have no knowledge if the driver of the scooter is courteous or otherwise. 🤷 and if they have had a bad experience with a scooter themselves or heard from others about a bad experience, they sum up an assumption of being on guard and this is precisely why i started the thread, because of feeling apprehensive on a scooter but not in wheelchair ( manual ) or rollator.....

I have terminal cancer and struggle to walk very far so I bought a scooter so I could go round RHS gardens and be able to spend time with my family out and about. I’m 63 and feel far too young to need a scooter and feel very self conscious when I’m using it. We went for a long weekend with all of our family to the Lake District but the footpaths were very narrow and busy so I couldn’t use it safely. It isn’t a big scooter. It fits in the boot of our car.

Ikiesgranma I hope you can put aside feeling self-conscious and have lots of positive trips out with it.

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.

Exactly how do you know the difference? Should should obviously lend your talents to the NHS if you can tell what illnesses and medical conditions people have/don't have as they go past on a mobility scooter.

I probably fall into the group of people you look down on and criticise - not elderly, and overweight. Yet I have many medical issues that reduce my mobility
- a genetic condition that sadly was not diagnosed until my 50s that impacts my joints, muscles and ligaments
- a second muscular condition
- an accident in 1992 that crushed my spine and caused neurological damage - my spine is now twisted because of the genetic condition
- a life changing accident (exacerbated by the genetic condition) that permanently damaged my left leg despite major reconstructive surgery and permanent pins drilled into my thigh bone and tibia, knee prothesis, and nerve damage that means I no longer feel my left foot

But obviously you would take one look at me and jump to the conclusion that I have brought it all on myself?

Can you not, to some extent, compensate for your lack of mobility through diet?

Cold

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.

Exactly how do you know the difference? Should should obviously lend your talents to the NHS if you can tell what illnesses and medical conditions people have/don't have as they go past on a mobility scooter.

I probably fall into the group of people you look down on and criticise - not elderly, and overweight. Yet I have many medical issues that reduce my mobility
- a genetic condition that sadly was not diagnosed until my 50s that impacts my joints, muscles and ligaments
- a second muscular condition
- an accident in 1992 that crushed my spine and caused neurological damage - my spine is now twisted because of the genetic condition
- a life changing accident (exacerbated by the genetic condition) that permanently damaged my left leg despite major reconstructive surgery and permanent pins drilled into my thigh bone and tibia, knee prothesis, and nerve damage that means I no longer feel my left foot

But obviously you would take one look at me and jump to the conclusion that I have brought it all on myself?

Obviously you do not fall into the category of people who have brought this situation on themselves as you have viable medical issues which I sympathise with as I mentioned in my comment and I cannot tell just by looking at an obese mobility scooter user.
However we all know people with no health issues whatsoever who cannot now walk any distance through pure gluttony.

My question as to whether Cold’s weight problem might be helped by diet goes unanswered …

I wonder too how many have insurance? I have a pavement scooter (4mph) and have insurance…

Not a lot I imagine. It really should be compulsory.

I don’t have a problem with scooters especially if used with care, I think it’s z brilliant way for anyone with mobility problems to get about..
However yesterday while walking along a fairly wide path with a wider grass verge a scooter passed very close by us at some speed, which had we stepped a few inches sideways would have knocked us down.
She sailed by oblivious.

Yes but only because of those who drive them quicker than you can walk (I'm a fast walker). Plus not checking before you reverse is dangerous (nearly had my foot ran over).