Disabled man's anger after he was hurt in scooter collision (From Gazette)
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Disabled man's anger after he was hurt in scooter collision
7:00am Monday 16th March 2009 in
A DISABLED dad has called for action after he was left shaken and injured after being hit by a mobility scooter.
Bob Scott said the collision happened on the pavement of High Street, Dovercourt, as he left a shop, at about 11.45am on Wednesday.
Bob, of Regimental Way, Dovercourt, was taken to hospital by ambulance and said he was in a “state of shock” at the time.
He added: “I was on my way to pick up my five-year-old son from school. I saw the scooter coming and I tried to back out of his way.
“It kept coming – I ended up back in the bank. He pinned me up by the door.
“I hurt my neck, shoulder, back, I have pulled tendons in my foot, which swelled up, and skin has come off my leg and arm.
“The elderly man was quite dazed himself.”
The 58-year-old, who suffers from osteoporosis and has soft bones, added that he fears someone will be seriously hurt unless something is done to highlight the dangers of the scooters.
“I was told by police there was no current legislation regarding mobility scooters on the pavements,” he said.
“I am extremely frustrated. I am not going to be the only one to have had something like this happen.
“I am disabled myself. If my child had been holding my hand, things could have been far more serious.
“As more and more people buy these mobility scooters, there will be more accidents. I would have thought there would have been some law on it.
“My main concern is for the general public and raising awareness about the safety of these scooters – they are too fast for the pavement and too slow for the road.”
Nishan Wijeratne, a police spokesman, said: “We have reviewed the incident and we will be contacting the pedestrian to obtain a statement. “The incident is not defined as a road crash as the motorised scooter is not classed as a motorised vehicle under road traffic legislation.”
Comments(9)
mickkrose
says...
11:41am Mon 16 Mar 09
No insurance is required, no MOT required, no licence required, no registration required.
However it is an offence under the Town Police Clauses Act 1847 to proceed along a pavement in excess of walking pace, walking pace is normally accepted as 4 MPH. The police can take action under this legislation although the original intent of this legislation was to stop people from running on the pavement.
Poacher
says...
1:26pm Mon 16 Mar 09
They have no problem dealing with cyclists or skateboarders on pavements. This isn't a case of can't deal with, but more likely don't want to.
These yobs on scooters can be a right menance at times. Mark my words before long they will be having rallies down at Tollgate!
Red Tape
says...
1:32pm Mon 16 Mar 09
Omelette
says...
3:13pm Mon 16 Mar 09
But I do agree that something needs to be done to prevent accidents, some of the people that use these devices behave so arrogantly and expect you to move out of their way. I saw two of examples of this last week in Witham, and then a third went by me at the river walk and he kept drifting between the footpath and cyclepath, plus his right back wheel looked like it was about to come off. It's stupid that they'll ban Segways from being used which are much smaller and lighter, but the bigger, heavier and far more dangerous mobility scooters are perfectly fine because they're used by dopey old buggers.
Ponder
says...
3:26pm Mon 16 Mar 09
The Police are obviously failing to do their duty if they fob you off with the excuse that "there was no current legislation regarding mobility scooters on the pavements”. Perhaps the Police should simply charge mobility scooter drivers who injure someone with common assault?
Flaming Ada
says...
3:51pm Mon 16 Mar 09
Boris
says...
9:51pm Mon 16 Mar 09
It doesn't matter what age someone is, he/she should be obliged to have insurance and to pass a test before being allowed to drive these scooters in public. It is a scandal that this is not the case at present.
But some people seem to think they should be allowed to do what they like. A couple of years ago, Bob Russell MP criticised someone on a mobility scooter who injured another person, in a supermarket I think. In the Gazette postbag in the following few days, there were several letters from people outraged at him daring to criticise mobility scooter drivers, and he got no support at all.
So stand by for a backlash from the elderly yobbos and their friends.
hughie-s
says...
8:48am Tue 17 Mar 09
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meadowlady says...
10:15am Mon 16 Mar 09