Mobility scooter deaths 'alarming

as posted here

Mobility scooter drivers have been warned to be extremely careful when using their vehicles, with the consumer watchdog alarmed at 71 scooter-related deaths in the past nine years.

Consumer Affairs Minister Craig Emerson has taken the step of issuing an official warning about the scooters, with concerns their increasing popularity is putting vulnerable lives at risk.

He says not enough attention has been given to the safe use of the vehicles, which have a top legal speed of 10 kilometres per hour.

"Tragically there have been 26 deaths in Victoria alone and more than 150 people have received hospital treatment," he said.

"While mobility scooters allow people with limited ability to maintain active, independent lifestyles, these injury statistics are alarming."

He says the deaths include on-road and off-road accidents and they highlight the potential dangers of the scooters.

"Obviously some of the people who use them aren't the fittest people on Earth, that's the whole reason for their existence," he said.

"I don't want to see anything severe happen in this space, but I do think we have an obligation to warn people of the dangers of using these scooters, particularly at dusk when they're not so easily seen."

Former scooter driver John, from Maleny on Queensland's Sunshine Coast hinterland, says he found it difficult to use his scooter because there was not enough road-space.

"I had a mobility scooter for two years when I had leg problems. I had it registered and insured but I stopped using it because the width of the bicycleways and footpaths at the side of the road wasn't wide enough," he told ABC Local Radio.

"When you've got big b-double trailers going past you and when you're going at 10 kilometres an hour on the main road out of Maleny, they blew me away so I had to give the scooter away instead of risking the heavier traffic."

The warning notice has a number of recommendations for scooter drivers, including ensuring the scooter is highly visible, avoiding very steep hills, taking footpaths or quiet roads when possible and wearing a helmet.

Mr Emerson says it is also very important for people to be aware of any effects that medication may have on their driving ability and to avoid drinking too much alcohol before driving.

In a statement, the managing director of Mobility Aids Australia, Andrew Gannan, says the statistics used in the warning need to be put into context.

"Scooters users are generally part of an elderly demographic, who already have the highest mortality rate, so we need to establish in what sense the scooters are deemed responsible for the level of deaths or injury," he said.

"The medical condition of the user when they purchase the scooter may be vastly different from their condition in six months' time.

"We need to establish whether there is a suggestion that the scooters themselves are 'unsafe', whether it is the people using them or even if motorists are failing to follow safe driving practices around scooter users, similar to the current debate about cyclists and motorists sharing roads."

Mr Gannan says Mobility Aids Australia only sells scooters that meet Australian standards and are approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration.

The ACCC will form a working group to come up with possible recommendations on the safe use of scooters.

as posted here