Some woman in one nearly ran me over at lunchtime. I was getting something out of the car via the passenger side door, shut the door and turned round to have her near-silently whiz past a couple of inches from me. Fair head of steam she'd built up.
I never quite worked out where they're supposed to be, whether the road or the pavement is the least dangerous.
Who cares if they're not disabled, most people need a car to propel themselves
And that is the elephant in the room really - pretty much everyone uses a mobility scooter. Cars are just big wheelchairs even if we kid ourselves that they're something more than that, given that they are defined as having "four wheels, and to be constructed principally for the transport of people rather than goods" - wheels and chairs, thats all they are. Whats odd is a bunch of people who use one kind of mobility aid (and I'm not sure how you'd describe a bicycle as anything other than a mobility aid, its a lazier way of travelling between two points than walking) guffawing at a bunch people who use another.
I told my lad (5 at the time) that old people on mobility scooters were actually Daleks. The introduction of Davros into Dr. Who merely served to reinforce my theory. 8)
Actually, maybe its all my fault as Ive been selling them chips, pies and burgers for nearly 20 years, and obesity does seem to be somewhat of a challenge these days.
There's a thought. Are the mobility scooter and fast food industries in cahoots? Nice comfy chair, basket on the front for burger or fish and chips. I don't think I've seen a cup holder on one yet. Missing a trick there.
Props to that lady with ms who was trying to get out and walk more, with her frame.
I think it is the bigger 8mph ones that are the issue, that's a lot of quickly accelerating and fairly silent mass sharing space with pedestrians.
And also to the guy with the airlift that obviously could control one well, but recognised the issues and limited himself to a smaller 4mph one.
350kg of scooter and user at 8mph has the same energy as 100kg of bike and rider doing 15mph. We have plenty of shared use paths (which have a design speed of over 15mph IIRC), are they really that dangerous?
we had a recognition chart at work, a bit like the ones issued to anti-aircraft gunners during the war, to let them know which ones were allowed on buses.
Until this thread I was unaware of the noble sacrifice of the brave anti-aircraft bus conductors. 😀
We have plenty of shared use paths (which have a design speed of over 15mph IIRC), are they really that dangerous?
bikes don't zip round shopping centres at 15mph normally...
Look at that old lady who had her pelvis shattered by one. That is an extremely serious injury at her time of life, the mortality rates for old people who break a hip are not good at all.

