Transport Select Committee Makes Recommendations on Mobility Scooters

The Transport Select Committee has called on the Department for Transport to clarify who is fit to drive a mobility scooter and to take decisive action following the current consultation. We must ensure that any such action taken by the Department for Transport doesn’t rob blind wheelchair users of our right to freedom.

The Transport Committee’s recommendations don’t specifically mention vision. However, media reporting of the Committees recommendations, included anecdotes about a blind scooter user being hit by a bus whilst crossing a road. I don’t know the details of that case, or even whether it is true, but it would appear that using a scooter had nothing to do with the accident. He made a mistake in judging when to cross the road but he would have made that mistake whether he was using a scooter or walking. It does not mean that blind scooter or powered wheelchair users are unfit to drive. The Transport Committee and the Department for Transport must not be allowed to confuse the issues.

As well as responding to the Department for Transport’s consultation, please also contact the members of the Transport Committee to explain that blind people can and do use powered wheelchairs and scooters safely. What matters is being safe, not sighted.

Tags: blind, campaigning, scooters, wheelchairs