POLL: Should mobility scooter drivers be subject to regulation?

There are more than 250,000 electric mobility scooters in use in Britain and a coroner has warned that a lack of regulation around the transportation is a risk to pedestrians.

A 92-year-old woman, Natalie Young, of Taunton, Somerset, died after being knocked over by a mobility scooter at a supermarket. The driver was not identified and police judged them not to have committed any crime.

An inquest into her death heard there are no restrictions on drivers and after hearing the case, senior coroner for the Somerset area Samantha Marsh wrote to the Transport Secretary Mark Harper alerting him that the lack of regulation “will continue to result in further deaths”.

She wrote: “Someone who is legally prevented from driving due to age, infirmity or other inability is freely able to own, use and operate a mobility scooter without any restriction whatsoever.

“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.”

READ MORE: Woman injured and in agony after being ‘run over by mobility scooter’

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Mrs Young’s son Robin said the lack of regulation around mobility scooters needed tightening, telling BBC Points West that users should have to have insurance and a sight test: “We don’t want people not to have them but there should be a law where you can’t just drive out of a shop after knocking someone down.

“There is no eyesight test, no tuition – anyone can go in and buy one. They don’t need any insurance either. It [the law] needs to be completely changed. At the end of the day if people can’t drive one then they shouldn’t be having one.”

Mr Harper said: “We encourage all users of mobility scooters to consider training to ensure that they can confidently handle their vehicle in all conditions. The department seeks to improve the safe use of mobility vehicles, while ensuring that they remain accessible for the people who use them and for whom they are a lifeline.”

He added that this summer the Government would be supporting a “nationwide certified powered wheelchair and mobility scooter assessment and training scheme”.

So what do YOU think? Should mobility scooter drivers be subject to regulation? Vote in our poll and leave your thoughts in the comment section below.