This study has been commissioned by the Department for Transport to help fill an evidence gap on the make-up and trends of the UK mobility scooter market and inform future policy or policy amendment. This includes policies directly related to mobility scooters (such as the Use of Invalid Carriages on Highways Regulations 1988), but also a wider range of transport policies and regulations that address the needs of disabled and older consumers with mobility impairments. Many such policies are based on the assumption that people with significant mobility impairments use wheelchairs (manual or powered). Mobility scooters differ from wheelchairs in a number of ways, including build specification, manoeuvrability and speed. The range of transport and road policy areas that could potentially be impacted by a significant growth in numbers of mobility scooter users include * Pedestrian safety, * Road safety, * Public transport carriage, * Mobility scooter driver licensing, * Mobility scooter driver Insurance, and * Mobility scooter driver training/assessment requirements. (Author/publisher)
Abstract