Government calls on retailers to assess the safe driving ability of new mobility scooter users
Mobility retailers are being encouraged by the UK Government to carry out tests to ensure that new mobility scooter users are safe drivers after a coroner warned of the dangers posed by unlicensed operators.
More than 250,000 of the electric vehicles are in use in Britain, but an inquest into the death of a 92-year-old woman hit by a driver heard there were no restrictions on who can ride one.
Natalie Young died after she was hit by a scooter while waiting to pay for her shopping at a Morrisons supermarket checkout in 2022. The driver fled the scene and has never been caught.
After initially being treated for a broken arm, the lady was later readmitted to hospital and diagnosed with a lower respiratory tract infection which had arisen “solely” as a consequence of the injuries. She died later that day.
Samantha Marsh, the senior coroner for Somerset, called on Mark Harper, the Transport Secretary, to look at introducing similar assessments to those for cars, warning that the complete lack of regulation and restrictions around scooter use could lead to more deaths.
She wrote that there are “no restrictions on those who are able to operate them; for example, there are no requirements on the drivers to have vision to a certain standard; to evidence cognitive ability and competence to a standard to be able to understand the controls of the vehicle and how to operate them safely.”
The coroner also pointed to the laws that currently govern those who could use a motorcycle or cars and suggested that similar rules should be brought in for those using mobility scooters.
Drivers over 70 must renew their driving licences every three years, and complete a medical declaration form and pass an eye test.
Under current rules, a licence is not required to drive any type of mobility scooter, including those that can travel at eight miles per hour.
Marsh wrote: “Mobility scooters can reach a fast enough speed to pose a significant risk to the entire community and population but specifically, small children, pregnant mothers and the elderly who are all particularly vulnerable to being impacted at speed by a blunt-force object and dying as a result of the injuries they sustain.
“I am concerned that the lack of regulation around mobility scooters will continue to result in further deaths, especially when there continues to be no regulation around those who are deemed fit to operate and use them.”
In his response, Mark Harper announced his support for the Driving Mobility nationwide assessment and training scheme, adding: “The scheme will help retail and hire businesses to assess a client’s safe driving ability, along with providing information on best practice.
“Short tests will be included to judge competency and provide any extra support where needed.’
He stated that while many registered retailers of mobility scooters evaluated the skills of users, there was a problem with second-hand sales “where no such evaluation of ability is performed.”
As well as calling on users to consider training when they begin using a mobility scooter, Harper also called on sellers to sign up to courses that help them assess user suitability before sale.
As part of this work, he pointed to the roll-out of a new certified assessment training scheme by Driving Mobility, which is currently being piloted, which looks to standardise and improve the assessments carried out by retailers to evaluate the competence of users.
The training scheme, to be launched in June, will help retail and hire businesses to assess a client’s safe driving ability, while sellers will have to face short tests on competency.
