From Yahoo News 03/02/08:
A 53-year-old man is being questioned by police in connection with a hit-and-run incident involving a mobility scooter which left an elderly woman woman needing hospital treatment.
Pensioner Audrey Lane, from Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, was knocked down by an electric vehicle which drove off at less than 8mph.
The former Land Girl, 84, is still being treated in hospital for a broken leg and wrist.
The man could face charges of assault or dangerous driving under changes to the Road Traffic Act made two years ago.
Mrs Lane's son, Daniel, 59, said: "My mother was standing with her shopping in the High Street, waiting to cross the road. The next thing she knew, she had been hit from behind by this man on a mobility scooter. She was in the middle of the road lying on the floor and her shopping bag was thrown half-way across the street.
"She remembers the incident clearly. He told her, 'I can't stop. I'm busy', then went off.
I've always said that driving competency tests should be mandatory before someone is let loose in one of those contraptions. A pedestrian who's had a near miss or even bruised skins from an encounter in the street or supermarket from one of those hot-rods will know exactly what I'm talking about. And the beeping when they're reversing: what's all that about?! They tend to be safest when in reverse; it's all the other times you've got to watch out, particularly if you treasure your toes. Some users, of course, do treat them carefully and 'drive' them in a safe and responsible manner. But there's no getting away from it, there's certainly others that don't. I've personally seen mobility scooters get raced round the local streets by the over 60s as if they were Ducati 1098s in ways that would give Valentino Rossi a run for his money. I guess it all had to all end in tears, sooner or later.
Speaking as someone who suffered three broken toes as a result of a speeding - and, as it transpired, drunken - old fart, I'm all for some form of public awareness/road worthiness test before allowing these chariots of fire out and about among the unsuspecting person on the street. The drivers should be punished in exactly the same manner as those properly on the road.... (*GRRRRRR - THIS IS MY PERSONAL BUGBEAR!!!*)
ReplyDeleteOh boy. Sounds like a nasty run-in Minxy. Maybe we should campaign for better policing of these hot-rods and some of their hazardous drivers.
ReplyDeleteI'll say; I was in Absolute AGONY for WEEKS, and the old fart concerned was completely unrepentant!!
ReplyDeletePoor Minxy. Was yours a hit and run as it were, or a dodgy reversing manoeuvre gone wrong? The worse ones are who rely unreservedly on their trusty scooters while 'out and about' being unable to put one foot in front of the other yet enjoy a miraculous recovery whenever they're in or about their own homes. They scoot sorrowfully down to the post office to pick up the disability check and sprint all the way to the bank to cash it, in other words.
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