Cyclechat investigates - mobility scooters

[BoldonLad]

I've never seen so many mobility scooters as on my visits to the Netherlands. It seems like the Dutch equivalent to our bus passes.

I dare say Shields Road, Byker, Newcastle-upon-Tyne would give it stiff competition

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Usually (not totally) ridden by fat lazy gits who know feck all about manners and the Highway Code!

Did you go for the turbo option when you got yours?

 

[lane]

I dare say Shields Road, Byker, Newcastle-upon-Tyne would give it stiff competition

Having cycled to Skegness a few times I can confirm they are very popular there. Slight issue navigating the isle in the fish ans chip shop.

 

[Mrs M]

Hate them with a passion.

Mrs Domus has Osteoporosis (brittle bones) and has suffered two separate hip fractures and is paranoid of tripping or falling. She was walking along the high street in Grange where a man was sitting on his mobility scooter while his wife was in a shop, their dog was tied to the scooter. The dog took off, man hit throttle instead of brake, dog, scooter and man ended up on top of mrs Domus, it took two passers by to lift the thing off her. Mrs Domus fortunately suffered only bruising and distress. While she was asking the man what the hell he was thinking of his wife came out of the shop and remonstrated with Mrs Domus for shouting at her husband. No apology or sympathy was forthcoming.

Sadly the entitled underclass response

 

[Milzy]

The disabled are allowed to fly around supermarkets & pavements on their quads but bring your push bike inside a supermarket & they’ll go mad & kick you out. Quote from a co-worker not my words.

 

[Drago]

The law clearly states that all threads in the CycleChat Investigates series must include a poll, and that poll must include at least one mildly amusing or downright ridiculous iotion.

 

[Rusty Nails]

The disabled are allowed to fly around supermarkets & pavements on their quads but bring your push bike inside a supermarket & they’ll go mad & kick you out. Quote from a co-worker not my words.

The clue is in the word disabled.

 

[Accy cyclist]

Did you go for the turbo option when you got yours?

I hardly see slim people (like me) using them.

 

[Donger]

Newent in Gloucestershire seems to be a hotbed of mobility scooter use .... presumably because of the number of old people's bungalows and flats in the town. My mum used to terrorise the place when she hit the high street, sending pedestrians scurrying into the roads from the narrow pavements as she raced about oblivious to the speed she was travelling at and how wide her scooter was. She always struck me as being like Boadicea in her chariot, charging through the enemy ranks. Thank goodness she didn't have any blades fitted to her wheels.

I also used to think of her scooter as "Thunderbird 7" and imagined the theme music playing every time she left the garage through the electric door that my dad had installed. She had a palm tree in the front garden too, making it even more like Tracy Island.

 

[Gunk]

Quote from a co-worker not my words.

I’m not being facetious, but when did the term “colleague” end up being replaced with “co-worker”? Is it an Americanism, as I’ve only really heard it being used recently?

 

[Drago]

Co worker sounds a bit commie. I always preferred "twits wot I work with".

 

[BoldonLad]

I’m not being facetious, but when did the term “colleague” end up being replaced with “co-worker”? Is it an Americanism, as I’ve only really heard it being used recently?

Maybe it is just easier to spell.

 

[Mo1959]

Funny story about my dad who is now sadly gone.

He had one of the ones with a 30 mile range and 8mph speed. Glorious summer day, he decided to rake a can of beer out of the cupboard and head off for a jaunt on one of the country roads around him. Given his eyesight wasn't great, and it turns out the beer was about 5 years out of date so maybe stronger?, he went off the road on the way back home and the thing toppled onto him in the ditch. Luckily a local lady was out cycling and saw it happening and got help to get it lifted up and got him back on with nothing more than bruises.

He blamed a pothole, but I'm not so sure. Funny now, but could have been disastrous I suppose if he wasn't seen.

 

[Globalti]

My late sister used one and she hated pavement parkers so when she came across one she would scrape her scooter along the paintwork while muttering "serves 'em effing right!"

I used to watch with a mixture of horror and admiration.

 

[Levo-Lon]

Very common in Peterborough, a life line for most users.

I do think they need more regulation regarding road use.
Particularly at night.
Unfortunately a lot of elderly users and some disabled users can be suffering with limited mental capacity which creates more problems.

My view is treat all mobility scooter users as a hazard and be aware that they will most likely do something unexpected.

The biggest hazard to scooter wheelchair users is inconsiderate car drivers blocking footpaths, and selfish people leaving obstructions in the way.

Caring society, able boddied people thinking their needs outway the disabled.