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Illegal: Britain's 250,000 mobility scooters
Last updated at 22:37pm on 25.11.06
There are 250,000 mobility scooters believed to currently be used in Britain
Loading the weekly shop as they glide up and down the supermarket aisle, Britain's 250,000 mobility scooter owners make unlikely law breakers.
But while they have little in common with teenage joyriders - the scooters, after all, have a top speed of just 8mph - most of the mainly middle-aged, respectable owners are in fact riding their electric-powered carts illegally.
Users are inadvertently breaking the law by failing to register the scooters with the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA).
The Mail on Sunday has discovered that many of the machines, which have caused a spate of accidents involving pedestrians and shoppers, are required by law to have either a tax disc or exemption certificate. Nor are most of them insured.
But local authorities and the police are failing to enforce the law - allowing ever-larger and increasingly sophisticated scooters to cause mayhem on pavements and shopping centres, where scooters are allowed up the aisles of shops.
MPs and safety campaigners have now called for the industry to be brought under control and for the DVLA to stop turning a blind eye to what amounts to a mass evasion of the road tax and safety regulations.
Originally intended as aids for the severely disabled, mobility scooters are now used by people with a much wider variety of ailments, including breathing problems, rheumatism and obesity.
Some suggest that a few are used by those who simply do not want to walk.
However, there is no requirement for the vehicles, many of which are second-hand and poorly maintained, to undergo any form of safety check. And users are free to start riding on the pavement or the road without any training, health assessment or eyesight check. Insurance is voluntary, which means anyone hurt in an accident has little chance of winning financial compensation.
There is no need to be registered disabled or to even be an OAP. The only qualification is that the user must be over 14 years old. Amid concern that some illegally-imported 'souped-up' scooters, capable of higher speeds, are in circulation, manufacturers ape the motor industry in an attempt to shed the 'disabled' tag and present their products, which sell for up to £6,000, as attractive leisure accessories. One top-of-the-range model is advertised as a 'long-range luxury' machine that 'delivers a superb performance and ease of use with sleek styling for an overall package that impresses with elegance and simplicity'.
But with a 26st scooter capable of carrying a weight of up to 39st - plus the weekly shopping in a specially-fitted basket - critics say the vehicles pose a potentially lethal threat to pedestrians.
A shopper was taken to hospital earlier this year after being knocked down by a mobility scooter in a Sainsbury's store in Exeter. And in 2004, the most recent year for which figures are available, there were a reported 1,134 incidents involving scooters, including the deaths of eight riders who were hit by cars or lorries on the open road.
Last night Ray Hodgkinson, director general of the industry body the British Healthcare Trades Association, said: 'They should be licensed just like any other vehicle under the Road Traffic Act. If they're on the road, they should have lights and indicators.
'We have a responsibility as an industry to make sure users are properly instructed. After all, these things can be lethal.'
Liberal Democrat MP Bob Russell, who has campaigned on the issue, said: 'The law in this area is extremely muddled.
'I welcome the mobility these machines give to the elderly and disabled but with freedom must come responsibility.
'We need some form of regulation - not to create another level of bureaucracy - but for the safety of users and the general public.'
A spokesman for the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents said: 'We have received a number of complaints about these scooters.
'We feel there should be a minimum requirement for third-party insurance and some training.'
The Department for Transport said: 'We are currently reviewing the rules that govern the use of these vehicles. We believe that the vast majority of users operate their vehicles safely and legally.'
Asked why the law was not being applied to scooter users, the spokesman said: 'That is a matter for local authorities and the police.'
Reader views (7)
I have never been able to learn to drive a car due to not being able to handle the gear change, but I can cope with electric vehicle.
I have purchased a mobility scooter that can also go on the road, which is good when the pavements are so bad.
However I always respect pedestrians and should it be a busy road will then transfer to a footpath mode. I also have a trailer for the use of doing my shopping etc, but would never take it into a shopping precinct.
Unfortunately, and I do not think that I am alone in this, but families do not offer to help or even keep in touch. Having my scooter gives me some freedom and help.
I do not drive erratically like children do on their cycles, and in turn they are faced with having to cycle on footpaths, due to the traffic and not being safe for them on the roads.
I do not mind paying a little for road tax etc, but will this lead to a tax on cyclists including children. This in turn will put the parents off their children cycling causing a further decline in their health through inactivity.
I do feel however there should be an age restriction on having a mobility scooter unless one also has a health problem that prevents them from walking.
I will also say that it is not easy to get social care today due to the high wages involved. Where I live the bus service is very poor, let alone the discomfort of travelling in a small bus. The 8 mph scooters also have a switch to put into a 4mph mode for pavement use plus lighting and indicators.
- Kathleen, Fleet England
An occasional nuisance to you, Dhanraj, but they are a lifeline for their users. Wheelchairs are nothing like so useful, and not everyone has carers at their beck and call. Don't be so selfish and so hypocritical - as if you wouldn't use one if you needed one!
- Olly, London
The scooters should only be allowed to be used if they have walking problems on the higher rate of mobility also a short driving test for none car drivers to see if they are safe to drive, all type scooters should only be allowed on the pavement or on the road to get to a other pavement-ps I have one and a car driver.
- The Don, Northumberland
The majority of scooter users are responsible people, who are disabled and find the scooter is a boon, and has changed their lives (I, myself can only walk about 50yds. and am in constant pain). I can now go to the shops, post-office and supermarket on my own. This is what mobility means. I have a portable scooter that I can put in the back of the car, and then have transport at the end of my journey. (I also have 3rd party insurance)
Most pedestrians are very considerate, even stepping aside to allow you through. However, some pedestrians don't look where they are going and will stop suddenly, or even about turn in their own length.
Until I started using a scooter, I didn't realise how often the general public walk about without looking where they are going.
To stop the use of scooters by the wrong people - it would help, if it was neccessary to produce a doctor's certificate to be able to purchase a scooter.
All scooters which are used on the highway should be fitted with lights and turning signals, and issued with DVLA tax exemption certificates to ensure 3rd party cover and doctor's certificate is in force.
- Ronald H. Rawden, Sudbury,Suffolk
Most mobility scooters are in fact covered by 3rd party insurance in the same way as most cyclists are. Most household insurance policy provides public liability insurance, I don’t ever remember seeing mobility scooters (or push bikes) on the list of exclusions (car driving is excluded).
A lot of the people who claim to have been knocked down by a mobility scooter were just not looking were there were going, .e.g. stepping out of a shop door without checking it is safe to do so. Given the number of “no win / no free” lawyers about these days and the number of rich old people with mobility scooters there would have been a lot of court cased if it could be proved to the scooter user was at fault.
Requiring training and a test before someone can use a 8mph mobility scooter would be a very good ideal, as they are a lot harder to control then the 4mph mobility scooter. Requiring lights etc to be fixed as standard by all scooter manufacturers would be very sensible; the lights should also be designed so that they do not stop working after the first few months of usage.
- Ian, Cambridge, England
These machines are Oldies last chance for fun, to old for Dodgems on the Fair, Bikes, skate boards Go peds. Give them a chance for fun. (train them if you have to).
- Kev Parker, Ripley Derbyshire England
They may be a boon to the disabled but they are a nuisance to pedestrians and road users. Whatever happened to wheelchairs and carer companions? Much cheaper and more social contact and interaction.
- Dhanraj, Basildon, Essex
