Following on from my previous posting about the laws on mobility scooters being changed in which the comment was made "There has to be an acknowledgement of the liability to the protection of the public, both physically and financially, in the case of accidents, by mobility vehicle users", an article in the Daily Telegraph entitled 'Disabled woman 'to lose home' after being sued for crashing mobility scooter into worker' clearly shows the need for users of mobility scooters to have insurance similar to that for cars, a public liability policy in effect.
Having been found negligent in her use of the scooter in a Morrisions supermarket resulting in a personal injury to an employee, Denise Bird, 42, who had been stacking shelves, Mrs Gloria Brown, the driver of the scooter claims she has been forced to put her house on the market to pay more than £16,000 she owes in damages and costs. Had she been required to have an insurance for the mobility scooter she would not have found herself in this situation.
With the increasing number of these scooters being used in public places, in many cases by untrained drivers, there will undoubtably be more and more incidents of personal injury claims being made against drivers of these mobility aids.
The sooner the consultation paper intended to protect pedestrians, other road users and owners of the vehicles themselves drawn up by the Department for Transport becomes law the better. Until that time the majority of scooter users will not consider paying for an insurance policy or undergo training.
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