AUSTRALIA: Elderly Scooter Drivers Told to Obey Rules

ALBURY, Wodonga, NSW (The Border Mail), May 31, 2006: Hundreds of elderly and disabled people are risking their lives as they go about their daily business on scooters. Two recent deaths in Gippsland and Shepparton have forced politicians to call on state governments to implement compulsory scooter safety training classes. Alan Goode, 90, from Albury, impresses fellow resident Norma Parker with his mobility scooter. Photo: Simon Dallinger Albury and Wodonga police said there have not been any recent scooter-related accidents on the Border. However, Albury Highway patrol officer Angus Duncombe said police had witnessed many near-misses. “A lot of people are operating their scooters as a substitute car,” he said. “They need to concentrate a lot more to obey the road rules and to operate as a mobile pedestrian.” Albury retirement village resident Alan Goode, 90, has driven his second-hand scooter for the past four years. Mr. Goode has not completed any training and uses his $2500 scooter for occasional shopping trips. “I can only walk with a frame and I’m too old to drive a car so it does come in handy and saves me from catching a disabled taxi,” he said. Scooters do not have to be registered and must be driven on the footpath at no more than 10kmh in Victoria and NSW. Scooters Australia, the country’s biggest mobility scooter retailer, requires all purchasers to undertake a two-hour training session. Despite this, he said, some buyers were not properly trained to operate their vehicles. Scooters are fabulous things because they allow elderly people to have a sense of independence, but governments need to look at setting safety guidelines, commented rural access worker Kaaren Smethurst. By Chloe Bugelly Copyright © 2006 The Border Morning Mail Pty Ltd. All rights reserved.