Mobility Scooters – The Ultimate Disability Product?
Many people with mobility problems prefer to use mobility scooters instead of electrically-driven wheelchairs, and they are a great way for elder or disabled people to stay independent, active and social.
When a piece of technology revolutionizes your life, one can only imagine how it feels to have it taken away. 82-year-old John Woodward from Hartlepool has recently told of losing his “lifeline” mobility scooter, after it was stolen from outside his home.
John suffers from severe arthritis and found the thousand-pound silver Sakura scooter had given him a new lease of life, allowing him to get to the shops and keep his independence. Needless to say, he has been appealing for witnesses to the theft, branding the thieves “scumbags”.
But a mobility scooter could even assist you retrieve stolen goods, as one man in Newhaven found out when a young man stole his wife’s handbag. The man chased the thief through town and eventually recovered the handbag and its contents minus some cash.
There are also lots of practical issues involved in using a mobility scooter. The world is still not a scooter-friendly zone, and there are many places you may find you have difficult using a scooter. A Church minister from Blackburn recently complained of being denied entry onto a train because his scooter measured 1.6 inches beyond size accepted by Northern Rail trains.
Worthing pensioners are complaining about their local terrain, as they say the town centre is not disability-friendly, with a lack of dropped curbs, cobbled streets, unhelpful shop design and awkward bus layouts. Disabled people of Worthing have challenged councilors to navigate the town centre by bus and mobility scooter.
There is a danger of not being able to control your mobility scooter properly. Many people complain about mobility scooters being driven recklessly. The last thing anyone wants is rogue vehicles on the pavement so Norwich and Yarmouth Police forces have launched crash courses in how to drive a mobility scooter safely. South Derbyshire council are even issuing high visibility jackets for all mobility scooter-users, in the hope of making the streets a safer place for everyone.
There are several contentious issues around mobility scooters, but no-one can refute that they have made a hugely positive impact on many people’s lives, allowing them to find their own way, living an active and independent life.
In terms of aids for disabled people, mobility scooters are up there with the wheelchair and the stairlift.
- Adam Cairn writes articles on a number of subjects including stairlifts and mobility aids.
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