Letter: Mobility scooters can be just as hazardous as cars!

The older one gets the less inclined you are to be surprised at what goes on in life.

After falling victim to the cold virus that has been sweeping the country, my wife decided she was now up for a walk on a bright and sunny winter’s day.

We hadn’t got far along Northfield Avenue before we came across a car, whose thoughtless and selfish owner in an effort to avoid hospital car parking charges, had decided to park it right across the access points where the pavement is sloped to allow for disabled scooters, prams and push chairs to get across the road.

Fortunately, their stupidy hadn’t gone unnoticed, judging by the Fixed Penalty Notice that had been slapped on the windscreen.

And there’s me thinking that our traffic wardens don’t leave the confines of the town centre.

On returning home an hour or two later, my wife let out a screech in the kitchen.

From our kitchen window, we both observed someone in a disabled scooter leave the safety of the pavement in fading light, who then proceeded to drive all the way around Northfield Avenue’s sizeable roundabout in the middle of the road, despite the presence of no fewer than four pelican crossings at each juncture of the roundabout that were installed at a considerable cost for everybody’s safety.

It brought all the rush traffic behind him to a virtual standstill.

What an idiot. Not only did he put himself at risk of serious injury or death, but he could have also caused considerable damage to any vehicles that could have collided with him.

I’m sure I am not the only one that has been forced to take evasive action on sighting a disabled scooter hurtling towards them while ambling along the pavement.

Perhaps the time has now come for all those that use disabled scooters to have to take a test to assess their competence, just like those of us who get behind the wheel of a car?

Both forms of transport are extremely hazardous to one’s health if not used responsibly!.

Ivan Humphrey, by email